In the Wrong Shoes
by kbeto
Summary: Harry and Dougie are constantly bickering, much to Tom and Danny's dismay. Tired of seeing his band mates fighting, Danny tries a solution he buys from a suspicious shop. What would take for Harry and Dougie to understand each other? Pudd, rated T just to be safe.
1. Written in the Stars

_Disclaimer: I can only hope to own them._

_A/N: I know I shouldn't, but again I blame **lozzigurl **for this story. I really don't know how she does that!_

_This one is mainly to get my feelings out (as always), but I think it will turn into a mini-fic (maybe 10 chapters or fewer? I don't know)._

In the Wrong Shoes

Tom woke up feeling ecstatic that morning, his brain barely registering his own actions, as he rushed through his habitual ritual for the past three years; a well-balanced breakfast, half-hour of yoga and a good, cold shower.

"_Today is the day, I can feel it,"_ his usual upbeat self assured him, and anyone could see how he was beaming with excitement, though they wouldn't be able to tell exactly _why_.

The blond thought of leading an ordinary life –studying English, becoming a writer and raising a little family– but after the first two semesters, he felt like his heart just wasn't there, and what he really wanted to do was follow his passion for music, something that he had learned from his father at the youngest age.

What seemed like a dream, turned out into an opportunity when he met Jake Hardin, the man who recognised his talent and have been helping Tom to find himself a band, ever since their paths crossed. Even though Jake had good intentions in his heart, so far they had no luck in finding even a _fucking_ drummer, which would put other people off and made them give up on the quest, but not Tom– his positivism had always spoken for him in every situation in his life.

"Hi, Jake," Tom greeted the older man, shaking hands with him.

"Hey, Tom," the blue-eyed man greeted cheery, with an obvious american accent. "Ready to find yourself your band mates?"

"That's what we're here for," he took his seat at the table, as one of Jake's assistant went to fetch the boys auditioning to play guitar in the band yet to be named.

Fifteen guitarists later –and as much as it would hurt him to admit it–, Tom started to feel drained and a bit tired and hopeless. Most of guys did seem like they had just started playing a few hours before the audition, despite saying they had been playing for three or more years. Jake, who wasn't in the same wavelength as Tom when it came down to being positive about everything, was about to tell his assistant, Lauren, to send the last boy home before even seeing him, when the brown-eyed boy stopped him.

"Come on, mate. I feel like he's going to be the one!" Tom pleaded with his manager, receiving a tired sigh as response, and telling Lauren to let the guy in.

"Your name and age, please," Jake spoke on the microphone when a brunet took the spot a few feet from the table.

"I'm Daniel Jones, 20," he stated with a thick accent and shy smile, firmly gripping his own guitar on the left hand.

~#~

"Did you like him?"

"Are you kidding me? He's _blooming_ amazing!" Tom smiled widely in response to Jake's question. "Not only a great voice, but he _knew_ what he was doing!"

"We're working on a _pop band_, Tom," Jake sighed. "Not only he didn't know _any_ pop tunes, he played a Bruce Springsteen song!"

"And played it bloody _well_," he countered, crossing his arms.

"If I didn't know better I would say you have a crush on him," the manager laughed, elbowing Tom on his sides.

Truth to be told, Tom indeed got mesmerized by the Daniel guy, but he wouldn't call it a crush or anything; he's not a schoolgirl. He still can remember how the freckled lad seemed to emanate a cool aura or something of the sorts, just making you comfortable to be in his presence after you just met him. And his voice was certainly heavenly, some sort of present from the heavens above, something Tom could spend the whole day listening to.

"Can I call him back?" he tried his long perfected kicked puppy face, with a pout and innocent pleading eyes. "We can't let go of the only _real_ talent we've found, Jake!"

"Ok, I'll let you in charge of telling–"

"Daniel," he offered, seeing as the other man struggled to recall the curly-haired boy's name.

"You tell _Daniel_ that he got in," the american man got up from his chair, wiping the cheek Tom just kissed, watching as the blond boy sauntered outside the audition room, looking through the contacts to call _"the Daniel guy"_.

"_Daniel, Daniel... here,"_ Tom quickly typed on his phone, waiting for the ringing tone.

He was almost giving up after no apparent sign that somebody would answer, when he finally heard a familiar voice and thick accent on the other end of the line.

"_Danny speaking,"_ he said unceremoniously. _"How can I help ya, babe?"_

"Err... Thomas Fletcher, from the band audition today?" Tom felt his face suddenly hot and flushed.

"_Oh, sorry, mate," _Danny chuckled, immediately making the blond smile. _"It's usually some bird calling me– Do you need anything?"_

"I– Well, I'm calling you to say that you're in," Tom frowned, unsure of how to take the extra information he was provided with.

_"Really? That's amazing!"_ A manly victory cry could be heard from the other side. _"We need to celebrate, then!"_

"Daniel–"

_"Call me Danny,"_ the boy interrupted Tom._ "Just say where you want to eat and it's going to be on me! I'm not taking 'no' for an answer,"_ he laughed, and instantly Tom knew he had no choice but to accept it.

~#~

Danny was feeling incredibly happy. So much, that he had to pinch his cheek four to six times, before acknowledging that none of that was a dream. The previous week hadn't been good at all, and he was almost giving up on music to go back to football when he saw a leaflet about an audition for guitar in a new pop band.

His first reaction was ignore it, but his sister insisted that would be a good opportunity, even if he wasn't too keen on being part of a pop band, but at least it was a band, and not a _boy band_. Still a bit reluctantly, he signed up for the audition and promised her to go, which he did and seemingly succeeded as Thomas had called him to tell the good news.

"I need to find something nice to wear," the brunet rummaged through his closet, throwing many shirts and trousers on the bed.

"Oh? Seems like somebody's getting lucky tonight," Vicky, Danny's sister, plopped on his bed, skimming through the clothes strewn on it. "Do I know her?"

"You don't know him," Danny replied, head still buried inside the closet, as he dug through a few hoodies and tops.

"You what?"

"I'm just going out with my band mate, don't think anything strange," he frowned, picking a good-looking dark green hoodie as his option. "I got in!"

"I told you so!" The girl sprang from her spot, attacking her brother with a fierce hug. "I hope everything work out between you two!"

"Vicky, I'm not _dating _him," he grunted, throwing the piece in his hand at her.

"If he's cute, then you can tell him you have a sister," she stuck her tongue out, as she ducked out of Danny's aim and walked away.

~#~

Danny and Tom started their night a bit awkwardly, but soon they dropped the formalities and started genuinely having fun, just talking about what their hobbies, aspirations, families, and that sort of thing when you try to get to know someone better.

"So, when are we meeting the others?" Danny asked, shoving a slice of pizza in his mouth.

"That's the thing, Danny..." the blond boy trailed off. "So far it's only you and me," he added sounding a bit deflated.

"Cheer up, mate! I don't mind being alone with you," the large freckled hand reached over for Tom's over the table, both boys blushing when their gazes fell upon their conjoined hands. "Sorry," Danny cleared his throat.

"It's all right," Tom tried to shake the embarrassment off. "It's nice to know that I can count on you," he smiled, and deep inside he knew his words were sincere; for some reason he felt at ease with Danny, something that scared him a bit, given they just met.

Soon it came the time for them to leave, but not without deciding to meet the next day for a jamming session at Tom's, and get him to meet their manager, Jake, a bit better.

"See you tomorrow," Tom waved goodbye.

"Wait, I'll take you home," He felt a hand grab his wrist, and turned around to meet Danny smiling at him, tugging at his arm and dragging him along to a spot where a scooter was parked. "Here," he tossed one helmet to Tom.

"Danny?" He risked, looking dumbly at the headgear in his hands. "I never rode a motorcycle before."

"There's a first time for everything," he laughed, patting the space behind him. "Come on, Tom! We gotta work on this trust thing. For the band!"

Begrudgingly agreeing, Tom took the spot Danny patted earlier, feeling a bit conscious of their proximity. When he didn't know what to with his hands, he found Danny's hands positioning his own on the brunet's waist, followed by a _"hold on tight"_.

Not in a million years he would say it aloud, but after the first three or four terrifying minutes, Tom started feeling less scared and the fear turned into enjoyment, the night breeze touching his body like some invisible mantle, and little leaps in his stomach whenever they made a turn.

Twenty minutes later, they had to say each other goodnight, as they had arrived at Tom's doorstep. Before leaving, Danny quickly pulled Tom into a tight hug, telling him that they were _"destined to do big things together"_, something that made the chocolate-eyed boy's stomach turn a bit –though not in a bad way–, whilst he watched Danny zoom into the night.

"If only we can get a drummer and a bassist as lovely as him," Tom told himself, shaking his head as he realised he had called Danny 'lovely'.

Fumbling through the contents of his pocket, he fished for his keys, turning them in the keyhole and letting himself inside the house. That had _definitely_ been an eventful day for him.


	2. First Wrong Impressions

_Disclaimer: Only in my dreams I own them._

_A/N: Thank you **anon guests**! I'm glad you're enjoying it! :)_

_We've discussing the possibility of having a writing contest in this fandom. Go check the forum in case you're interested (it's your chance to get one of the writers around to write a fic especially for you!). You can find a link on my profile or **lozzigurl**'s. ;)_

Chapter II

"Hello, Vicky."

"Hi, Tom," she greeted, stepping back to let the boy inside. "Come in, Dan's taking a shower."

"Thanks," Tom smiled, following Danny's sister to the living room, eyes scanning the pictures of the Jones siblings as kids hanging on almost every wall.

"I'll tell him to hurry," the girl disappeared, heavy steps on the stairs being heard from where Tom sat on the sofa.

"_I guess Mrs. Jones isn't home,"_ Tom thought, picking up a photo of a smiling blond boy with freckle dusted skin, round face and blue eyes. The kid was making a silly face, cross-eyed and lips pursed, something that made Tom smile.

"He told me to let you in into his _lair_," Vicky's voice called from upstairs. "It's the first door to your right, Tom."

"Thanks," he replied, putting the photo back and climbing the stairs to the referred door. After knocking three times and getting no response, Tom tried the doorknob, slowly pushing the door open.

The room seemed like some sort of battlefield coming from a zombie apocalypse film, pieces of clothing everywhere, shoes, magazines, and a trash bin with lots of sandwich wrappers and other evidence of someone actually _living _there. Tom slowly closed the door behind him, calling Danny's name, as he tried to find where the brunet would be.

"Where the hell are y–"

Tom felt something heavy and wet tackle him to the floor, pressing heavily against his back. He wrestled a bit with whatever it was, finally managing to roll onto his back, only to be met with blue eyes and rather loud laughter, as Danny shook his head, spraying both with the water running down his damp curls.

"Get off, you twat," he tried to shove the curly-haired boy away, but had his arms pinned to the ground and legs immobilised by Danny's weight.

"You should have seen the look in your face!" Danny guffawed, still holding Tom in place. "Tha' made my day."

"It's a good thing that somebody's having fun," Tom rolled his eyes, exhaling in relief when the other boy finally got off of him. "And– are you naked?"

"Not naked," his freckled face changed into a frown, "I got my towel on, see?" he opened his arms to emphasize his point.

"Danny, you better check again," a scarlet Tom covered his eyes, hearing frenzied pacing around the room, as Danny searched for clothes to cover himself.

~#~

"You what?"

"I want you to come live with me," Tom repeated himself, though he was sure pretty sure he was clear enough the first time he had said it.

"Are you proposing? Because this usually takes time, we've known each other for a month," Danny winked, already knowing too well how the blond would react.

"I'm serious, Dan," he slapped the other boy's arm. "Jake says that we should get to know each other better, and that would help us to improve chemistry and be friends."

Danny's expression got stony for a second, his gaze fixed on Tom's face, but at the same time looking through him. It was like Although Tom existed in front of him, Danny could see something more, something that even Tom himself couldn't fathom.

"But we _are_ friends, right?" there was a hint of sadness in his voice.

"I hope so," Tom pulled him into a hug, "or I'll have to go to the police and say you pounced on me whilst you were naked," he chuckled, ruffling Danny's curls with a free hand.

Their hug lingered for a while, and even after they were done with it, they just kept a close distance, staring into each other's eyes. It was like silently agreeing to a staring contest, neither breaking visual contact, the only sound in the room being their own breathing.

The proximity started making Tom nervous, as he swallowed hard –in a very audible way– when Danny began to slowly close the gap between them, unconsciously licking his own lips.

"Boys–"

Danny instinctively leapt from his bed scowling at Vicky for some unknown reason, telling her to knock before entering his room, and something else that Tom could not understand as he just blinked, not fully digesting what had happened between them two.

"Let's go to the audition, then," a large hand extended in front of Tom brought him back from his thoughts, prompting him to look up to a smiling Danny.

"Yeah," he accepted the offer, letting Danny pull him outside the room, and soon into the streets.

~#~

"_This must be the place," _a young blond with pierced ears reached into his pocket to grab an overly folded leaflet with the address to auditions for a pop band. _"I know I can!"_ he thought to himself, stuffing the piece of paper back into his jeans, and walking to the building ahead.

As expected, the place was crowded with lads of different ages, some carrying their own instruments and others just happily talking. They seemed to be acquaintances from previous auditions, and the boy knew how hard was to get a shot at this music industry; he had been to a few other auditions himself, and had been rejected because of his young age. In fact, he shouldn't even be auditioning, as he he had just skipped class, something that his mother would skin him alive if she ever knew about such feat– a terrifying thought indeed.

"_No time to chicken out, Dougie,"_ the blond boy took a deep breath, and started dodging his way to the board to sign his name. It would take some time till it was his turn to play. "I could go grab me some–"

"Hey, watch where you're going," a posh, well-built brunet scowled at Dougie sprawled on the floor, after the blond had ran straight into his back. "Are you blind?"

"I'm sorry for that, okay?" Dougie glared back, dusting himself off and getting back up. "It's just too crowded in here."

"I don't see what business a kid like you would have here," the blue-eyed boy sniggered, turning in his heels and leaving a fuming Dougie behind, before he could counter the attack.

"Who died and crowned him the king of all things?" Dougie huffed indignantly, throwing two middle fingers after the rude stranger. No matter how bigger and stronger he was, nobody treats Douglas Poynter like that. _Nobody_.

"Can I have your attention please," a feminine voice speaking into a megaphone made itself heard above all the chatting and noise in the place. "Good morning, my name's Lauren and we'll start the auditions for drummer and bassist. Upon hearing your name called, please, follow me into that room."

"_Time to shine, Dougwash,"_ Dougie started his own motivational ritual that, involved slapping his cheeks with both hands, whilst jumping in the same spot and making some horse-like noises.

"If you came here to play with a pony, then you're at the wrong place," a familiar voice male snorted behind him.

"We'll see about that after I'm in the band and you're not," he jabbed his finger against the despicable blue-eyed guy, retreating it when both realised that he was basically resting his hand against the broad chest.

"And you will need a better excuse next time you want to feel me up," he winked at Dougie. "Good luck, kid. You're going to need it."

"I'll show you who's the kid," he yelled after the irritating guy, falling silent when other boys around eyed him funny. _"I hate him!"_

_~#~_

"What you two think?"Jake, reclined into his chair, folding arms behind his back and looking up at the ceiling.

"I liked that one blond bassist who looks like he's fifteen," Danny played with a pen between his upper lip and his nose. "He played very well."

"I agree with Dan," Tom nodded, smiling at Danny before turning back to Jake. "He clearly played with passion!"

"That's the problem: he _does_ look like he's fifteen," the older man eye's rested on both boys. "I don't even think he was old enough to be here."

"But here it says he's the same age as me," Danny said, looking confused.

"What about the drummer?" Jake sighed. "All but one of them could be said to be a drummer!"

"I know, my nan drums better than them," Tom rolled his eyes, also sighing.

"I didn't know your nan could drum!"

"And she _can't_, Danny," the blond shrugged, making the other two laugh.

~#~

Dougie nervously awaited outside the audition room, texting his sister about everything that happened– she had found out about his plan, but swore not to tell their mum. Most of people had left the place right after going in, but he decided to stay for a bit, as he already had skipped class and couldn't go back home or Mrs. Poynter would get suspicious.

"You _do_ know they won't be making their decision so soon, right?"

"It's the idiotic posh, again," Dougie took a glance at the boy in front of him and rolled his eyes. "I thought I made it clear that I don't like you."

"You're the idiot here, kid," the brunet sniggered. "And my name's Harold," he said, taking the spot next to the smaller blond.

"Same goes to you," Dougie snorted. "I'm Douglas, not some 'kid'."

"Well, _Douglas_, I would have said 'nice meeting you' but that would be a shameless _lie_."

Not fully believing his ears, Dougie cast the Harold guy an incredulous look, wanting to just punch him in the face. He opened his mouth to give some witty answer back, but the brunet quickly got up, saying something about his friend being back from the loo and walking away throwing a goodbye over his head, in Dougie's direction.

"I hope I won't have to see his face ever again," he gritted his teeth, slinging his bag over one shoulder and storming off somewhere else to kill some time before he could go back home.


	3. Live the Teenage Dream

_Disclaimer: If I had three wishes... You know what I would wish for. I also don't own YouTube, or any other reference to pop culture._

_A/N: Whoa, this chapter kind of wrote itself? And I quite liked it?_

_We're still discussing the possibility of having a writing contest in this fandom. Go check the forum in case you're interested. You can find a link on my profile or **lozzigurl**'s. Don't be shy! ;)_

_Let's try to save this fandom from its impeding doom!_

Chapter III

"What are you–" Dougie bit a moan back, as a brunet kept latching hungry, sloppy kisses along his neck.

"I'm very good at this," the brunet grinned mischievously, blue eyes darkened with lust, biting along the other boy's collar bone. "Wait till you see what I can do," he breathed, his tongue _vibrating_ against Dougie's skin.

"Fucking hell," the blond's eyes flew open, vision not completely in focus, hands searching for the source of the buzzing and movement, finally taking his mobile away from his neck.

His room was mostly dark, meaning he had slept due to boredom, just wasting his time doing something not-so-productive on the phone, mostly idly navigating random YouTube videos of morally questionable humour.

He checked the screen to see who was calling, but it wasn't a number he recognised. The first thought that occurred him was it being one of the guys from the audition, to tell him he had gotten in, but Dougie quickly dismissed it, as he already lost count of how many times his expectations only led to disappointment.

"You probably rang the wrong number, and I'll be glad if you don't call again," he lashed his frustration on the person on the other end, before they could even got a word outside their mouth.

"_Well, that was a quite unexpected reaction, Douglas," _a male voice spoke with a thick accent, chuckling over the sound of paper rustling, as Dougie could infer from the noise in the background.

"I'm sorry, who are you, again?" he pushed himself against the headboard, now more interested in the mysterious caller, as the other boy clearly knew him from somewhere, even if Dougie himself couldn't exactly guess who it was.

"_Douglas Poynter, right?"_ The stranger cleared his throat. _"It's from the band audition you went to last week?"_

"Yes?" Dougie could feel his heart start to beat faster, his palms getting considerably sweaty, whilst he tried his hardest to forget about his own emotions and just focus on the voice speaking to him.

"_We're sorry about taking so long to get back to you, but I'm calling to let you know that you're our new band mate,"_ the voice all but beamed over the phone.

"Holy fuck," was all that escaped Dougie's lips, he tumbling on his way outside the bedroom, speeding up to go tell the good news to his sister.

~#~

"You what?" Mrs. Poynter asked, clearly bewildered after hearing the news from her son.

"I'm in a band, and I'm moving with them into the band house," Dougie balled his hands into fists, knuckles turning white from the excessive force he was applying; he knew it wouldn't go smooth with his mum.

For two hours from then, Mrs. Poynter painted a horrifying scenario in which Dougie would just end up homeless and living under a bridge for not pursuing his degree, quitting his last year in school to join a bunch of equally crazy kids that didn't know a thing about real life and responsibilities of an adult's life.

Of course, he tried to argument back, but he knew too well –almost 18 years of experience– that once she was on a roll about something, the woman was pretty much unstoppable, like a great force of the nature, like a tornado or a _tsunami. _The first two times he tried to interrupt her only added a whole speech of how that was the least worse of the cases, and brought up the possibility of Dougie's new band mates actually try to harvest his organs in the middle of night and dispose of his body in many plastic bags around the town.

"Can you please believe in me?" he pleaded with gleaming eyes, hugging his mother tightly. "Just for once?"

Taken by surprise, Mrs. Poynter started crying, telling him how could she possibly be okay with handing her son to a bunch of strangers and an unknown future, and reassuring that she more than anyone believed in his talent, making Dougie also cry on her shoulder.

"You're not losing me, Mum," he smiled through tears. "I'm going to make you so proud. Just wait and see!"

~#~

Nerves got the best of Dougie, and he sort of had frozen on the passenger seat of his family's car, watching a modestly sized house in which he would properly meet the guys. Daniel –or Danny, like the boy had told Dougie– said he would get along well with the other guitarist, telling him how nice and wonderful the Tom guy was, making Dougie question if they already knew each other for a long time. They sure sounded awfully _close_.

"I'm going with you," are the last words he would like to hear from his mother's mouth, but he already anticipated much. "I'm not going to just give some strangers take care of my _underage_ son."

"I already told you they think I'm 19, mum!" Dougie snapped his neck to look at her, fearing that someone might have heard them. "You want this to work, right?"

"Ok, ok, but I'm still meeting them," she stated, getting out the car to show that the matter wasn't up to discussion.

Grabbing his bass and luggage, Dougie made his way to the front door of his new home, his mother tailing right behind him. Nervously pressing the door bell, it didn't take long till steps could be heard from behind the door, followed by a muffled thud, laughter and a bunch of indiscernible noise.

"Hello, Douglas," a brown-eyed blond opened the door smiling from ear to ear. "I'm Thomas Fletcher. Just call me Tom."

"Hi, Tom!" Dougie took Tom's hand and shook it. "This is my mum."

"Nice meeting you, Mrs. Poynter," he kissed the older woman hand. "You got a very talented son, ma'am."

"Thank you, Thomas," she giggled, impressed with the boy's gallant ways, not noticing that he winked at Dougie, probably showing how he expected to see worried parents at their door.

Tom ushered the Poynters inside the house, telling them to not mind the mess, as he and Danny just had moved two days before and didn't really have the time to put everything in place, mainly because they got tired to the bone in the first day, and then went out to celebrate on the second day. Plus, they would get the work done faster with two more pair of hands.

"Speaking of Danny, where is he?" Dougie looked around, finding it strange to not see the brunet boy; he could swear he heard his laugh when he first got there.

"You can start helping now," Dougie found himself being pulled over to a couple of big boxes and a lot of random stuff in a big pile that seemed to be _shaking_. "Help me dig him before he suffocates," Tom points to the pile that now seemed to be _grumbling_ something.

"I thought tha' was my end," Danny finally stood up, dusting himself and spitting a guitar pick out. "How did it even got in there," he chuckled, before finally acknowledging their visitors.

The freckled boy pulled Dougie into a quick hug, and proceeded to greet Dougie's mum in a manner mirroring Tom's earlier actions.

"Now that I know you two are lovely lads, I can at least be a bit more at ease," she said, kissing Dougie and bidding them all goodbye.

"Now, let's get you to your room, shall we?" Tom smiled, closing the door behind him. "Me and Dan already picked ours, because we were here first, obviously."

~#~

"Wow, that's so much bigger than my old room," Dougie breathed in awe, taking in all the space that he now would call his room.

"It's actually smaller than our rooms," Danny shrugged. "I would have chosen it if it wasn't so far from To–"

"Come on, let's test your mattress," Tom pushed Danny out the way, looking a bit flustered, and for some reason it was almost as if he didn't want the boy to finish his sentence.

The next second, Dougie was thrown on his mattress by his limbs, the other two laughing and jumping on it with him. He knew it wouldn't possibly be the behaviour expected of young adults, but he didn't care about it at all; he just wanted to have some fun with his new friends.

Soon they were all panting on the floor, limbs splayed, as each tried to hold the laughter and just catch their own breath, but failing miserably in doing so. If that was how his days were going to be from that moment on, Dougie was more than glad that he got in the band with some _"random strangers"_, how his mother had put it before meeting Tom and Danny.

"You know what's funny?" Dougie started giggling again. "Mum thought you guys would harvest my organs whilst I was asleep, and dispose of my body along the trash," he was now laughing with all his being, shaking almost convulsively.

"She did?" Tom asked, eyeing Danny, who was looking back at him with a malicious glint in the eye. Both started laughing in a sinister way, and Dougie stopped dead in his tracks when he realised their evil eyes on him.

"Guys?" he risked, panicking when he felt Danny's large hands grab his wrists and Tom quickly sitting on his legs, completely immobilising him. "Guys, you are freaking me out!"

"I don't remember saying that we wouldn't do anything to you," Tom's face had 'mischief' written all over it.

"Me neither," Danny's head also hovered above Dougie's face, making cold sweat wet his temple.

That's when a merciless and ruthless torture started, Tom's hands acting like _blooming_ drunk tarantulas wandering about Dougie's sides, making it hard for the younger boy to breathe and form logical and coherent sentences between huffs, desperately trying to wriggle his way out of the older boys' grasp, being tickled until he almost passed out.

"You two are the worst," he tried to compose himself, kicking Tom's shin and landing a punch on Danny's shoulder. "I hope the other guy–"

Dougie stopped mid-sentence. Ever since he put his feet inside the house, neither of the guys said anything about the 4th member. Maybe they didn't find anyone good with the audition for a drummer? Dougie was about to voice his curiosity, when the door bell rang, Tom and Danny bolting downstairs to get the door, being followed close behind by him.

"And now we're complete," Tom beamed at both Dougie and Danny, letting a tall brunet with blue eyes– and in insanely good shape– inside the house. "Danny, Dougie, this is Harry."


	4. Like Cats and Dogs

_Disclaimer: You won't find none of those pop culture references locked in my room, that's for sure._

_A/N: If you don't know, we're still talking about the contest on the forum. Just a friendly reminder. ;)_

_Thanks, **xxPUDDxx**! You should totally get an account! You're a sweetie! :)_

_Ugh, I got stuck in some parts but when I finally got the creative juices going I had to end the chapter. Now I'm not sure if it will produce even 10 chapters. Oh well... :P_

Chapter IV

"Hi, Danny," the brunet went to shake hands with the other boy, whilst Tom stood behind, grinning widely. "Nice meeting you, you can call me Harry."

"My pleasure, mate! I was wondering when you would arrive 'cause Tom didn't tell me much about–"

"Him?" Dougie finally broke free from his stupor, voicing his annoyance.

"Hello, _Douglas_," Harry smirked, "what a surprise seeing you here, and not particularly a good one."

"Same for you, _Harold_," the blond crossed his arms and scowled back.

"Are you two friends?" Danny asked, but fell silent when his new band mates glared daggers at him.

"We– uh, I'm sure you two need some time alone to sort things out," Tom hurriedly dragged Danny upstairs with him, leaving the other two to discuss things over –or so he hoped–.

For a while, all they did was stare at each other, as if expecting the other to say something or just attack; nobody was really sure which of the two options would follow first. Harry was the first to move, but only to grab his bag that he had dropped on the floor to greet the guys, walking into the living room and bumping into Dougie on his way there, almost knocking the blond on his arse.

"Don't you look where you're going?" the bassist hissed, trying to regain his balance and leaning against the wall.

"Says the kid who had ran into me the first time we met," Harry snorted back, plopping his belongings on the sofa and surveying his surroundings.

Dougie was never the violent sort of bloke, but in that moment he fought the urge to just jump on that muscular back and knock the guy down with something. He actually thought of it, but he gave up the moment his eyes fell upon a Mickey Mouse about the size of his arm length, questioning who would be the owner of such a childish toy.

"This house seems cool. Would be perfect if I hadn't to share it with you," the drummer tested how comfortable the sofa was, bouncing on it a bit.

"The feeling is mutual, if that makes you happy," Dougie rolled his eyes. "Just be warned that I'm not giving up on my dream just because of some wanker," he turned on his heels, but found himself being span back by his shoulder.

"I see we agree on something."

Harry's face was a bit too close for Dougie's liking, invading his personal space, breathing onto him with eyes cold and menacing. The blond swallowed a bit hard, but decided to put a brave façade and not show any signs of being intimidated. He was ready to give a witty reply, but missed his chance when Harry grabbed his bag and made his way to see the guys upstairs.

~#~

For the rest of the morning, the four boys worked on getting the place to look a bit more inviting, working first on their bedrooms. Since no one could decide the order they should do it, Tom took the duty upon himself and immediately was promoted to 'band mum', deciding it was best to just go with the order they all arrived at the house: him, Danny, Dougie and Harry.

As expected, neither Harry or Dougie wanted to help on the other's bedroom. Danny tried to just laugh things off and lighten the mood, but the duo started arguing and Tom had to actually drag them by their ears and assume a more authoritative posture _"If I'm the mum, then this obviously is __**not**__ a democracy"_. He was definitely getting into the assigned role, and Danny once more just laughed.

"Now that we all have our rooms tidy for the most part, we should get ready to meet Jake," Tom beamed, and Danny seemed to be the only one matching his enthusiasm.

"Can't we just order something and he can come over and eat with us?" Dougie huffed. His hair was mostly drenched in sweat from their huge cleaning, clearly exhausted.

"Only an amateur would suggest meeting their manager in a mess like this," Harry sniggered from somewhere behind Dougie. "I'm going to take a shower."

"_When did the fucker take his shirt off?"_ the small blond was surprised to get an eyeful of chiselled chest and rippled abs. "Nobody really asked for your opinion, Judd," he finally said, breaking his stare from Harry's body to look at his face and see him _smirking_.

"Whatever, Poynter," he shrugged and left the room.

"Will this really work?" Danny whispered into Tom's ear. "They've been arguing the whole morning!"

Danny's concern was also Tom's– the boys had changed from first name basis to using only their last names, something Tom couldn't reckon as a sign that they were warming up any bit to each other. And it didn't make any sense, because Harry was definitely a nice person to him and Danny, but all he did was make sarcastic remarks about Dougie, or try to find a flaw in everything the youngest member did.

"I'll have those two getting along even if I have to use force," Tom sighed in response, shrugging as Dougie started to yell something after Harry, who was laughing as he climbed the stairs.

"You're far too gentle for tha'," Danny chuckled. "I know it better than anyone else," he gave Tom a final wink, going over to try to placate Dougie's rage.

~#~

"Hello, guys," Jake greeted the four boys, eyeing specially Dougie and Harry. "You may remember me from the audition, I'm Jake, your manager."

Soon they were over with the formalities, settling down for a nice lunch when Dougie's stomach grumbled in protest, leaving the blond embarrassed and giving Harry an excuse for yet another snarky remark. None of that seemed to have escaped Jake's attention, and the older man frowned at the boys' bickering, casting a questioning glance in Tom and Danny's direction; both knew they would be interrogated as soon as the manager got one of them alone.

"So, are you guys getting along great? Liking your new home?" The question was directed no one in particular, though Jake had his eyes on Dougie.

"I still have all my internal organs, I reckon it's a good start," Dougie smiled shyly, bringing the fork into his mouth. "They're all right."

"What about you, Harry?"

"We can say something after we play a song or two together," the brunet shrugged mater-of-factly. "Too early to know for sure."

"I see... Well, Tom and Danny hit off from the beginning, maybe it will be the same for you two?" Jake forced a smile. Even himself wasn't believing what he had just said, but they couldn't have things be over before they even got something started.

"They did?" Harry's smile was almost predatory, eyeing Tom with an all-knowing look, making the brown-eyed boy feel a bit uncomfortable in his seat.

The remaining of their meal was a mix between discussing personal preferences and more technical stuff, finishing with Jake agreeing on visiting them the next day to hear what they could do together, playing one of the songs that Tom and Danny had written together, even if it was just a rehearsal and they wouldn't necessarily sound astoundingly great on their first try.

"See you tomorrow, guys," Jake excused himself, and left the four boys to themselves.

"We should be going, too," Tom pushed himself up, clasping his hands together. "We still have to make our house look like home."

"Aww, Tom! Can't we rest a bit more?" Dougie pouted, using the same strategy when he wanted something from his mother.

"I am the band mum, so it's not up to discussion," he tapped Danny and Harry on the shoulder, grabbing Dougie by the arm and dragging him back to their house.

~#~

"I can feel a migraine on its way," Tom massaged his temples slumping on the sofa with his eyes closed.

"Let's just give them some time, okay?" Danny promptly took the spot beside Tom, lacing an arm around the guitarist's shoulders, pulling the fair-haired head onto his own shoulder. "Everything will work out in the end, I promise."

Tom was too tired to care, or acknowledge the curly-haired boy's words. He knew that Danny meant well with his actions, but he couldn't possibly do something about that, could he? He couldn't simply make Harry and Dougie be friends and stop attacking each other at every opportunity they had, or glaring like they wanted to twist the other's neck. That Tom knew for sure.

Their afternoon turned into a massive disaster as soon as Harry had found out Dougie accidentally dropped his bag, snapping the drum sticks he got from a gig he went to see Counting Crows a few years ago. The drummer didn't believe it and proceeded to tear one of Dougie's blink-182 posters down –the one autographed by the three members–, and that's when all hell broke loose, the boys almost engaging in a fist-fight and Tom sending each to their own room.

"It's our first day together and they almost killed each other, Dan,"' he nuzzled his head a bit on the freckled skin. "I doubt everything is going to be all right."

"Leave it all to me," Tom found his chin being lifted on Danny's large hand. "All I want is for you to smile, Tom."

"You're really the best friend I ever had, Jones," Tom chuckled, but stopped when Danny kept staring at him with a serious expression.

Before Tom realised it, Danny face was gradually getting closer, and his eyes instinctively closed themselves.

"Dan–"

A frightening scream woke them up from their trance and both leapt from the sofa, still surprised by the shrill screaming, swallowing hard because it was surely Dougie's voice that filled the air.


	5. Peace Can Wait

_Disclaimer: I am never ever ever owning any of them._

_A/N: This one took me so long because my computer was being a bit of a bitch and refused to stay on for more than 10 minutes. And I also got a bit addicted to Dragon Blue, and now there's a boat load of updates to read (at least something good)! :D _

_**xxPUDDxx** You should! This way it will be easier to contact you and for you to keep track of what's happening in the fandom! ;)_

Chapter V

"Oh my God, what in the bloody fucking hell are you two doing?" Tom ran a hand through his hair, letting his head drop with a tired sigh.

The blond wasn't really known for cursing that often, but there's only so much a man can take before losing his temper and snap, specially when you're talking about babysitting two grown boys almost the same age as him, that don't seem to understand the meaning of getting along for the sake of the band.

Danny promptly had Harry arms and head locked, restraining the almost naked brunet's movements as Tom helped Dougie with the window he was trapped under. The scene didn't make any sense at all; Harry was dripping wet, a towel draped around his waist and visibly annoyed; Dougie had his upper body out of the window trying to reach for the tree that grew near his room, trapped by his waist under a slide-down window, his trousers barely covering his naked bum.

"Sit down, you two," Tom sighed once more, eyes moving from Dougie's embarrassed face back to Harry's scowl.

"I prefer just go to my room," Harry tried again to get free from Danny's grip, but the freckled boy proved to be a lot stronger than he appeared to be, and he decided against it after his towel almost fell.

"I'm not _asking_ you, Harry. I'm _telling_ you to sit down," Tom spoke again, his voice stern and awfully serious, almost as he was another person, and both Harry and Dougie sat on Dougie's bed.

Seeing Tom so visibly upset made Danny feel a bit bad, and he couldn't help bring his hand to the drape of Tom's neck, making soothing, circular movements that seemed to work when he felt the blond unconsciously lean back into his touch for a brief moment. Tom gave him a small smile and turned his attention back to his band mates.

"What exactly was happening here? Depending on your answers, I'm afraid we might have to involve Jake in this," the chocolate-eyed boy folded his arms over his chest, but this time his expression had changed into one of a caring mother.

"This peeping Tom barged into my bathroom whilst I was in the shower," Harry spat, getting up with a leap, only to be pushed back by Danny.

"Is that true, Dougie?"

"That was not my fault, Tom! I didn't know where that door would lead!" Dougie's blue eyes were full with panic, finger pointing to a third door in the room.

In fact there was a door that didn't lead to the closet, but instead it led straight into Harry's small en suite. The drummer had the smallest room in the house, but he was the only one with his own bathroom, although it was just a bit too cramped in there, and would be more for times he had to use it and the main bathroom was occupied by someone else.

"It's Harry's bathroom," Danny announced, crossing back to Dougie's room. "But there's no doorknob how did you even get in there, mate?"

"I... I picked the lock," Dougie saw the eyes fall on him, and Harry bellow a _"see?"_. "It's not a talent I'm particularly proud of, okay? I was just curious!"

"Curious to see me naked," the drummer snorted. "You're a pervert and a delinquent!"

"And you're a prick!"

"Enough!" Tom shouted and everyone fell silent in the room. "Harry, go to your room get dressed. Now."

Harry scowled at Dougie one last time and disappeared trough the door to his bathroom, leaving Tom and Danny to have a talk with Dougie alone. The older duo seemed awfully like parents on the verge of bombarding their kid with a lot of intrusive questions, and Dougie felt uneasiness fill his body and his palms getting sweaty.

"Now we're going to listen to you, Dougs," Tom smiled in a sympathetic way. "What happened before we found you under that window?"

~#~

"If weren't for Tom and Danny I would be long gone," Dougie plopped on his bed, eyes resting on the ceiling after staring at his poster that Harry had reduced to shreds. "That guy is even worse after you spend a whole day with him!"

Dougie had no doubt that his first day in the band was actually far from being a living dream. If anything, it was almost like hell on earth, or at least some sort of in-between, since Danny and Tom clearly were more like angels than tiny devils –just a bit mischievous–, the very opposite of Harry Judd that seemed to have as his only purpose in life torment the bassist.

"What's that?" Dougie got up from his bed, going to check on a strange looking wall. "Is it a door?"

Maybe it was because of all the hype of the new life and they barely did anything else than make his bedroom look hospitable, but now upon closer inspection, that wall was clearly a door. You wouldn't notice it without paying a bit more of attention, for it was as plain as the wall itself and had no doorknob, but it was definitely a door with a covered keyhole.

"A secret room? Hell yes!" The blond rummaged through the contents of his pocket, finding a paper clip that he quickly bent into some sort of tool and started work on the lock. A few pokes of the piece of metal in the hole, and the click revealed the door to be open, forcing Dougie to use his penknife to help it open, as it lacked a door knob to serve him.

As soon as the door was a bit open, he could hear water cascading down and... someone humming a song? Disregarding the little voice in his head that told him it would only lead him to trouble, Dougie once more fell victim to his own curiosity, crossing the door to the other space.

"Wha–"

The scene in front of him made his jaw drop a bit, a mix of surprise and panic boiling inside him and coursing through his veins. He was in a little bathroom, the figure of a tall brunet in the shower seen blurred by the almost transparent shower curtain, although all Dougie could make out were forms and shadows.

"Better get out of he–"

"Who's there?" Harry's head popped from behind the curtain, searching for the source of the sound and finding Dougie sprawled on the floor, as he had tripped over the loo.

"You little pervy shit!", the drummer hissed, reaching for his towel and covering himself. "I'll kill you!"

Dougie scrambled onto his feet, running back to his own room. With no better idea –or time to think properly–, he opened his window and tried to reach for a branch of a tree near to it. He almost succeeded, but then something coiled around his ankle, and he could see a fuming Harry darting daggers at him, dripping wet and a dangerous murder intent.

"Let go of me," Dougie started kicking with his free leg, desperately clinging to the branch that could save his life.

Maybe the suddenness of his actions startled the brunet, but Harry did let go of him for a split moment, only to grab him by his trousers right after. Dougie internally cursed the fact he was wearing skinny jeans that day –he couldn't even just get out of them and escape easily– and felt his face grow hotter when he realised what that scene would look for anybody else, specially when he could feel Harry _too close_ to his arse, trying to pull him back inside.

"I'm calling the cops," he tried to wriggle from the taller boy's grip. "What you're thinking you are doing?"

"I'm trying to get you inside so I can kill your perverted arse properly," Harry tugged on the fabric of Dougie's trousers once more.

Harry was almost winning their competition, when the window slid down and hit the blond with a muffled and painful thump, right in the lower back. The pain seared trough Dougie's whole body and he screamed with all the air he had in his lungs, hearing hurried steps approaching him and Harry.

~#~

The next day came bringing along the first time when their band would play something together. Harry and Dougie were still not talking to each other after the happenings of the previous night, although Tom made both swear that they would stop arguing so much, thus it could be seen as their attempt of keeping their promise to the 'band mum'.

Tom was still concerned about Dougie's back, but the bassist said he was already brand new after a good night of sleep. It didn't seem to convince the other blond much, as he told Dougie that he could tell him everything, and whenever he needed someone to confide in, he would be there for him.

"That must be Jake," Tom went to answer the door, and take their manager with him back their studio room.

"Hello, guys! Ready?" Jake took a seat, receiving four nods back. "Well, just get to it!"

They started playing a few well-known songs and proceeded to a few compositions of their own, though it didn't sound as great as the first few songs, certainly they had potential, and Jake beamed, being all hand shakes and claps on the back with the boys.

"You guys have this week free to do whatever you want, because next week we're going to record a few original demo songs," Jake gave them a thumb up."Can't say I'm a bad manager, eh?"

"We'll see that after you start enslaving us," Tom led cheekily, making Danny laugh a bit too much and receiving funny looks from the other three. "Come on, that was funny!"


	6. Family Issues

_Disclaimer: I don't own SpongeBob nor Mr. Brightside. Or anything else, really._

_A/N: Sometimes I ask myself if there's really any point to it. *sigh*_

_I guess we're nearing the end, even though the real story is yet to begin. Am I making any sense? No? Well, that's me. :P_

Chapter VI

"_Tommy? Are you finished yet? I really need a shower,"_ Danny's voice came muffled from outside the bathroom, barely audible above the sound of cascading water. _"I would even be cool with sharing it with you because I'm really stinking."_

"Wait for you turn, Jones," The blond laughed, wiping his wet fringe from his eyes. "I'll be out in a second, mate!"

Tom turned the tap off and reached for his fluffy SpongeBob towel to dry himself and finally give the other guitarist a chance to get clean, when he felt something hairy brush against his hand. A huge tarantula. Taken over by an irrational fear, the boy flung the door the door open, running straight into a shirtless Danny that was waiting outside –ready to knock one more time–, both falling down to the floor huddled together.

"Wha– Tom what happened?" The curly-haired boy tried to calm his friend down.

"You two should get a room!" Dougie appeared from his room, doubling himself with laughter.

"Dougie, I'm going to kill you!" Tom snarled, getting off of Danny, and dashing towards the other blond, who closed his door nearly crying from laughter.

Two months had passed since they started living together as a band. Dougie who was seen as the most shy in the group, revealed himself to be a prankster expert, always up to some mischief, that often had Tom as his favourite target. Danny was usually one of his targets too, although he seemed to be not too much of a funny reaction as Tom. And as for Harry, well, Dougie really didn't like the brunet and all the talk they ever did was solely when they were recording something or just doing rehearsals. Apart from that, all they ever did was argue over trivial things.

"He only does that because of how you react, Tom," Danny sighed, wrapping the boy's waist on his own towel, covering Tom's modesty. "You don't see him doing that often to me or Harry, do ya?"

"But he acts like he's five!" He scratched his head nervously, muttering a 'thanks' after realising he had been naked the whole time. "He needs to learn a lesson!"

"I'll talk to him later, ok?" Danny kneaded his fingers in the blond mop of hair, giving his trademarked assuring smile. "You know I haven't given up on my promise."

"I know, Dan. You're amazing," the reply came with a shy smile.

"Sometimes, yeah," the brunet laughed, spinning on his heels and walking inside the bathroom. "Oh, and I'll be using your towel, since you have mine," he winked one last time, disappearing behind the door and leaving a baffled Tom standing on the corridor.

~#~

"Come in," Dougie answered to the knocking on his door. "Hey, Dan."

"Hey, Dougs. What ya doing?" the guitarist strolled inside, plopping onto his back on Dougie's bed, eyes glued to the ceiling and making a pillow with his arms.

"Not much, just sorting my CD collection."

"Good, good." Danny nodded, rolling on his side to get one of the many CDs lying on the floor. "You know why am I here, right?"

"Yeah," the blond sighed.

It was a known fact that Danny was awfully protective of Tom, by now. It didn't mean that he couldn't care less about Harry or Dougie, but just that spending some time together just the two of them, certainly had made their bond special.

"I don't want to treat you like a kid–"

"I know, I know." The younger boy sighed, "I'm going to apologise to Tom, ok?"

"Thanks, Dougs," his freckled face turned into a wide grin, and he kissed Dougie atop the head –making the bassist chuckle– , before leaving the room.

"_I reckon that he would make a good dad," _Dougie got up on his feet, making his way to Tom's room. He stopped before the door, knocking softly three times and awaiting for an answer. A quick scan around the room revealed Tom to be seated on his chair, strumming some chords idly on his guitar.

"Look, Dougie, I'm not in a mood for another prank, all right?"

From the tired sigh Tom had given, Dougie could notice that he wasn't exactly mad at him, but more like tired or even a bit _disappointed_. Though he had come to apologise because Danny asked him to, he couldn't and wouldn't ignore how Tom seemed to be really annoyed.

"I'm actually here to apologise," he sat on the floor in front of Tom, urging him to play something. "Sorry for that, I didn't know you would get it this bad."

"It's just that I don't _really_ like spiders," the older boy shuddered a bit. "Danny sent you here, uh?"

"Yeah, he really cares about you," Dougie smirked.

"What you mean?"

Dougie simply smiled again, shaking his head. He asked to hear an acoustic version of one of his favourite songs –Mr. Brightside– , completely ignoring Tom's question, hugging the brow-eyed boy just before leaving to his own room, making sure they were in good terms again.

~#~

"_I should buy Tommy a little something," _Danny thought, walking through the city streets. He was sure that Dougie would try to make up with Tom, but he also wanted to buy the blond something that could cheer him up a bit.

The band wasn't being highly profitable yet, so it wouldn't be anything big, maybe a soft toy or a key chain; Tom was as easy to please as a child, that much Danny knew. When he finally caught up to his own thoughts, he found himself close to an alleyway, a neon sign almost entirely faded above what seemed to be a little shop.

Despite the creepy appearance, something made Danny actually take a little detour and pay the strange shop a visit. As soon as he pushed the door open, an old bell rang above his head –sounding faintly over the hinges creaking– announcing to the owner of the place that somebody had entered. Or so Danny thought; the place seemed completely empty.

"Hello?" he risked, a bit apprehensive, squinting his eyes in search of somebody. The place was clearly tidy, contrasting enormously with the precarious aspect that it had outside, and that thought put the boy a little bit more at ease, for it meant the shop wasn't really abandoned or something.

"How can I help you, darling?" A short woman with white hair modelled in a bun held in place by two long hair sticks appeared seemingly from nowhere, smiling at him with serene grace.

"Err... Hi, I'm looking for a gift for a friend!" Danny smiled back, recovering from the scare the old lady gave him. "Something not too expensive?"

"I think I have exactly what you need," the lady clasped her hands together, disappearing behind the counter.

"_She gives me the creeps,"_ the freckled boy started analysing the contents of the small shop, increasingly becoming less and less excited about the idea, as the place seemed to be some sort of antiquarian, crawling with statues, vases and other things old as _balls_.

It didn't took long before the cheery, mysterious lady reappeared with a set of boxes, one one each hand, pushing them towards Danny over the counter. He scratched his head, not fully understanding the meaning of any of that, because he could swear he said 'for a friend' and that he asked for something that his wallet could handle.

"Go on, darling," the elderly woman smiled again, encouraging him to open the boxes. Inside each of them was something akin to a metallic dream catcher, one yellow (with a golden sun in the centre) and the other blue (with a silvery crescent moon in it).

"Thanks, they're nice, but... that's not quite what I had in mind," he tried his best not to sound rude, shaking his head. "And I don't think I can afford these, they look expensive."

"My guess is that you have friends that are constantly arguing, right?" Danny wanted to ask how she did know about that, but lost his chance when she began to speak again. "Let's make a deal: you come back to pay me if they work for you. How about that?"

"How are you so sure I'm coming back to pay you?" He asked in wonder, an eyebrow raised.

"You have honest eyes, darling," she chuckled. "You'll learn a lot more when you get to my age."

~#~

That night, after dinner, Danny asked his band mates to sit on the living room, as he had an announcement to make, handing each of them a little rectangular box wrapped like ordinary parcels received through the mail. The boys looked at each other with puzzled faces, waiting for an explanation, and Danny beamed at the chance to explain what the hell was going on to them.

"I felt like we could use a bit more of positive energy and I bought those for us," he gestured at the presents he had given them. "Each of us got one!"

"I don't really believe in this kind of bullshit," Harry snorted, inspecting the sun adorned net in his hand. "Sorry, Dan."

"God knows that I don't usually agree with Judd, but I'm not one for those things, either," Dougie sighed, shoving his present back inside the box.

Danny faltered at the harsh words from the other two, but it didn't last long, as Tom sprang from the sofa and coiled an arm around his shoulders comfortingly. The blond guitarist beamed at him, giving him a dimpled smile, turning back to glare at the other two.

"Can't you appreciate what Dan's doing for the band? At least _somebody_ is trying to get things to work out here," he gave both Harry and Dougie pointed looks. "Now, thank him for the gift that must have costed him a rib and be sure to pin them to your doors!"

"Yes, mum," they replied in unison, Harry rolling his eyes and Dougie sighing tiredly, both making their way upstairs after that.

"Thanks, mate," Danny leaned his head on Tom's shoulder, appreciating the gesture of his friend.

"No need to mention it," Tom squeezed the boy against him, thanking him for the present and hugging briefly before doing the same as the other two, sauntering the steps.

Danny just smiled, watching such scene, feeling of warm arms around him lingering and mentally thanking the strange old lady for her help.


	7. Moon Meets Sun

_Disclaimer: I'm broke, don't even think of suing me. I own none of the references used here!_

_A/N: In case you haven't heard, we're currently holding a writing contest! Go check the forum to know more about! Link can be found on my profile or you can just search on the Just My Luck tag (we're the only forum there, anyway). And be sure to spread the word around, boys and girls! :D_

_**xxPUDDxx** Thanks, dear! I hope you have fun with this one, too! :)_

Chapter VII

"_I feel like a vulture died several days ago in my mouth," _Dougie got up from bed, scratching his head, eyelids still heavy with sleep.

It should be rather early in the morning, as he couldn't even make out too many things in his room, dark sky still creeping outside. Maybe it was still night and he had barely slept for a couple of minutes, and was now feeling extremely hungover for no concrete reason.

"What time is it?" he mumbled to no one, skimming through his belongings on the bedside table for his phone, finding the electronic apparently dead. "Great, just what I needed!"

Tom's room wasn't the closest to his, but he was definitely the best choice Dougie had between waking Danny up –who actually wouldn't wake even if the whole planet was collapsing– or waking Harry –the closest thing he had to an enemy– . Yeah, maybe Tom was not just the best choice, but his _only_ choice, if he were to be completely honest about the situation.

"Fucking hell!" the bassist exclaimed as he opened the door to his room, taking in an immense, yellow room that seemed as large as a stadium. "What's going on here?" his eyes widened in fear.

"Excuse me," a soft voice came from behind Dougie, startling him out of his daze. "What are you doing here?"

The blond immediately spun around and his eyes fell upon the small figure of a brunet boy that couldn't be possibly older than five. Said boy had sparkly blue eyes, and was watching Dougie with a raised eyebrow, keeping some distance between the two of them like Dougie was some kind of threat to him.

"I don't even know where 'here' is," he dropped to the kid's eye level. "And who are you, little mate?"

"Who are you?" The boy shifted his eyes for a moment, taking a step back. There was something defiant about his instance and Dougie thought it only be fair to introduce himself first.

"I'm Douglas," he said extending his hand to the blue-eyed kid. "And you are...?"

Maybe Dougie's smile warmed the little stranger up a bit, because after what could only be taken as a moment of doubt, a tiny hand found its way into his. "Hi, Douglas. I'm Harry!"

~#~

"Come on, mate! Everyone's up, already!" Danny knocked on Dougie's door, munching down on a toast. It was already long past 9AM and they were supposed to go meet Jake in the studio to record another demo.

Upon not hearing the usual sound of something being thrown at the door as a 'go away' warning, Danny risked entering his mate's room, praying that the blond was at least covered, as it was known that Dougie usually slept in his _birthday suit_.

"Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty," he poked the asleep boy in the cheek, and frowned when it earned him no response whatsoever. "Dougs?"

Having a powerful voice can sure be handy sometimes. Danny had to shout only once to have Tom and Harry come running upstairs with mortified expressions on their faces. When the three of them were finally gathered in Dougie's room, he explained –the best he could, considering the panic that have washed over him– to the other two what happened.

"Is he dead?" Danny eyed Tom with pleading eyes, watching the blond take Dougie's pulse.

"He's just unconscious, Dan," Tom smiled reassuringly. "He'll be fine."

"Yeah, he must be drunk or something," Harry snorted. "Not our fault if the kid can't handle his alcohol," he turned around, going back downstairs to finish his breakfast and laughing along the way.

Tom and Danny exchanged reproving looks, silently agreeing that the drummer should at least be a little more worried about his band mate. It was getting unbearable seeing those two bickering all the time, acting like stubborn kids that would get along great if only they got past their differences and dropped their defences.

"You think he's drunk? I don't remember we drinking last night," he bit on his bottom lip, watching Tom face's scrunched up in thought. "What the hell are you–"

"Smelling his breath for any alcohol?" Tom asked Danny who seemed to a little too consternated after seeing the guitarist bring his face too close to the asleep bassist's. "Why?"

"No-Nothing!"

"Let's finish our breakfast, it doesn't seem like there's anything too wrong with him. Maybe he's just exhausted?"

They walked outside the room and it wasn't before Danny was closing the door, that Tom noticed something. The blue dream catcher that Danny had given Dougie was pinned outside the door, but the moon in it was gone.

"_I thought he said he didn't like that?" _the brown-eyed boy thought to himself, but dismissed the thought and went to join Harry downstairs.

~#~

"How can you be Judd?" Dougie asked in disbelief. "You're polite, you're cute, you're _nice!_"

"I don't get what you are saying," the little boy frowned. Their conversation didn't seem to be going anywhere; he's too confused about Dougie's questions and Dougie too confused as to what in the actual hell was going on.

"Okay, Harry," Dougie sighed, "let's just find a way out of here, okay?" He offered a smile, receiving a enthusiastic nod from the boy that wrapped a small hand around his fingers.

They walked some time, hand in hand, casually talking about what they liked to do, and what each would be when they got to adult age. Dougie wasn't sure of exactly how much time had passed since he found himself wandering around a bloody yellow room with no end in company of some sort of mini-Harry –albeit completely different in personality from the one he knew–, both lost inside an alternative reality with nothing but each other's company.

"Doug," the boy yawned, after walking for some time. "I'm tired."

"But we have to get out of here, Harry. Can't you walk a bit more?" To which the kid shook his head. "Okay, come here," he scooped the boy up in his arms, laying the tiny head covered in a mess of black hair on his shoulder.

Dougie couldn't help but feel some sort of happiness swelling in his chest. Maybe was that what being a parent was? Being able to take care of someone smaller and fragile? He didn't realise it, but he was decidedly smiling, being grateful for not being lost in that strange place alone. And better yet, he was in the pleasant company of a cool kid. Hard to believe that nice kid would grew up to be the royal arse he knew.

"_I just hope we can find a way out before you drown me in drool," _he ruffled little Harry's hair, chuckling as he felt the wetness on his shoulder.

~#~

"We can't really go, Jake," Tom spoke on the phone, seeing Danny's worried face and Harry rolling his eyes. "Dougie's not feeling well."

"_Is it serious? Do you guys need anything?"_

"No, mate." Tom tried to sound casual. "Thanks for your concern." And with some lame excuse he finished the call with their manager.

It was currently 2PM and nothing they did to wake Dougie up had worked. It was clear for all the three that something was really wrong, although none of them had an idea of _what _it could be. Tom, being the most thoughtful in the band started recollecting memories of what they had done the day before, looking for anything unusual that could have triggered the asleep state Dougie found himself in.

"It's going to sound a bit weird, but... do you think it has anything to do with those dream catchers?" the blond bit his lower lip, much like Danny would have done. "I mean, he's _sleeping_, right?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Tom," Harry started laughing, with all his might. "Are you implying they're magic or something? Do you believe in that shit?"

"Just because you don't, that doesn't mean it's not real," Danny cut in, seemingly more offended by such statement than Tom himself. "I'll go check that shop where I bought them!"

"I'm coming with you," the freckled boy felt a hand on his shoulder, face lighting up when he saw Tom behind him, nodding.

"Let's go, Tommy," he beamed back at the other singer.

~#~

"Is this the place?"

"Yeah, I'm positive of that."

"But... there's only a big brick wall there, Dan," Tom ran his fingers along the wall, as if searching for a hidden switch or anything that would reveal a secret door. "Do we have to open a door or something?"

"No, you could see it from here. And this is not a Harry Potter book, Tom," he chuckled at how excited the other boy seemed, despite all of that being like an episode of The Twilight Zone.

Their search resulted in no concrete evidence, or any clues that could help them solve the mystery of Dougie being unable to wake up. They were already leaving the alleyway, when a loud 'pop' behind them brought their attention back to the wall they had previously inspected.

"What's this?" Tom picked up a note scribbled in tidy calligraphy from the ground, feeling Danny rest a chin on his shoulder to also read the piece of paper.

"_I would advise to read the instructions for the product you bought. More will be revealed with time._

_Galatea"_

Danny and Tom looked at each other with confused looks but dashed back home, pushing thoughts of _"who the hell is Galatea" _to the back of their minds, for the time being.

~#~

"It wasn't my imagination! I knew it!"

"You should have told us sooner, Tom," Harry sighed. The sky outside was almost all dark when they finished reading the 'instructions' for the dream catchers.

"Like you would have believed him, Harry," Danny snorted.

Under a faux bottom in each box, an ancient paper could be found with a brief description of what which image represented: Harry got the sun, Dougie got the moon, Tom got the stars, and Danny got the sky. Not much information was contained in those notes, except for the moon one.

"_The moon shines bright in the night because of the sun. Only during an eclipse the two will be seen together."_

"What the fuck that means?" Harry got up from the couch. "If you need me, I'll be drumming upstai–"

"Harry!" Danny caught the muscular drummer just before he could hit the floor, unconscious and body completely limp. "Tom, what's going on?" he yelled over his shoulder.

"Morning," a naked Dougie appeared in the room, scratching his bum and trying to blink the sleepiness away.


	8. Sun Meets Moon

_Disclaimer: Dreaming is believing, and that's why I won't stop sleeping! Still don't own a thing._

_A/N: In case you haven't heard, we're holding a writing contest this month! Just more 20 days to go, what about bringing forth the writer in you? That's your chance to become a more active part of this fandom and help it not to die! :) Details on the McFics Slash Board Forum (link on my profile page)._

_I'd like to thank some new readers that popped up recently. Thank you, I hope it can entertain you all! :)_

Chapter VIII

"Morning? Do you have any idea what time is it?" Tom chuckled a cushion at Dougie, and started pacing around in circles. All that previous talk about magic and weirdness was getting a bit too overwhelming. Not even being a Harry Potter fan would cover any of that shit happening to his band.

"To be completely honest, no." The bassist reluctantly covered himself. "The same way I don't know why _your_ boyfriend is groping Judd." At those words Danny immediately let go of Harry's body, a muffled thud denouncing his actions to the other two.

"He's not– Oh my God, Dan, what are you doing?" Tom ran up to where Harry was lying on his own face, painfully sprawled on the floor.

"Ooh, that gonna hurt in the morning!" Dougie winced a bit, then let a laugh out, plopping down on the couch holding his sides.

With two short breaths, Tom quickly decided the best approach to deal with the matter at hands, telling Danny to take Harry upstairs and bring some boxers or trousers, or anything that Dougie could cover himself up properly. Since they knew almost nothing about those damned dream catchers, they could probably get some information from Dougie; he had experienced the effects himself, after all.

Tom wouldn't readily admit it, but some part of him was a bit thrilled about the magic involved in the case, because, well, magic is part of the life of most growing boys. Not that he was still a little boy –age wise–, but he certainly remained one at heart.

"I put Harry in his bed," Danny reappeared, throwing a shirt to Dougie. It was long enough to cover the small blond down to his thighs. "He's out like a light."

"It's just like Dougie was," Tom crossed his arms, tapping his foot as he thought of some theories. "Dougs, you tell us everything that happened to you whilst you were out."

~#~

"What am I doing on the floor?" Harry got up, rubbing his forehead. It felt like that time when he tried to mimic a karate man that could break bricks with a head-butt, only that now he knew he couldn't do it, and didn't wake up in the hospital with five stitches on his head.

A quick glance around told him that neither Danny, nor Tom, were around, and he decided it would be better to just go do a bit of drumming to forget about all that weird talk about magic and dream catchers and witches. He already had too much on his plate, like dealing with that 'obnoxious kid Douglas', like he had put so many times before, and definitely didn't need to get curses an whatnots mixed in.

As he opened the door to their studio, Harry blinked twice, even pinching his arm to make sure he wasn't dreaming: the room he expected to see had been replaced by a seemingly endless blue room. His instincts kicked in, and the decision of not entering the new room would have been a wise one, if only the corridor behind him hadn't disappeared as well, leaving him trapped in that surreal place.

"Great," he snorted. "Stuck in a place that I can't even see any exit," he kicked at the door he had opened and started wandering in search of somebody else.

~#~

"You are telling us that Harry was with you in a yellow room, but he was a kid?" Tom arched an eyebrow up, turning to look at Danny's equally confused expression.

"Yeah," Dougie took a bite of an apple, acting nonchalantly as ever. "But he was actually nice and I really liked him. It's hard to think he's the same arsehole we know," he gave a final shrug.

The two guitarists fell silent for a bit, pondering a plausible explanation. Tom was known among the four to be the sharpest mind in those puzzle games, so if not only he had an idea, they were pretty much _screwed_.

"We're really in the dark, aren't we?" Danny asked almost in a whisper.

"You saw it as well, Dan. The paper was–" the brown eyes went wide in realisation as Tom jumped from his spot beaming. "You're a genius, Dan!" he grabbed the freckled boy his face, giving him an effusive peck on the lips, before going over to the open boxes on the coffee table.

For a moment Danny just stood still, totally baffled, fingers touching the lips Tom's had touched a few moments ago, a strange tingling sensation buzzing under his skin. It was only when Dougie cleared his throat beside him –with a knowing grin on his face– and Tom returned with a paper in hands, that he tried to regain some of his composure.

"Spill the beans, Tommo the homo," Dougie pulled his knees under his chin, being careful to not let his private parts show (mainly because Tom wouldn't have liked that). "What have you figured out?"

~#~

Harry was completely unsure of how long he had been walking, but he could tell that his body was starting to get a bit tired, which was an indicative that at least three hours had passed since he found himself in that bloody empty room.

"I should take a break," He wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead. "It's not like I'm getting anywhere," he went to sit on the floor, but the sound of somebody crying reached his eardrums, prompting him to follow it.

His search was a brief one, as he soon found the source of the quiet crying, a small boy with light blond hair, face buried in his knees. It seemed that the youngster didn't notice Harry's presence at all, and the drummer crouched in front of him to try to get him to calm down a bit and hopefully tell him something –anything, really– about that place.

"Oi, don't cry, mate!" he gripped one tiny shoulder. "Boys aren't supposed to cry!"

"Who a-are you?" the kid stuttered, flinching at Harry's touch. The only reason why he didn't run was due to being held in place by the man's large hand.

"I'm Harry," he frowned, but thought things would go smoother if he played it friendly with the kid. He was never good with kids. "What's your name?"

"I'm Dougie," the boy sniffled, whipping remaining tears from his eyes.

"_He does resemble that wanker, but that couldn't be true," _he thought, sitting in front of Dougie. The mini bassist seemed to be a bit calmer, but still scared about something, and wasn't really coherent in his speech, making Harry lose patience rather quickly.

It was clear to him that Dougie wouldn't be too much of help, and after a few minutes he got up and started walking away. When a strangled scream made him turn and see a massive snake chasing little Dougie, Harry debated with himself how much of that was real, because the room had been empty –except for the two of them– a few minutes ago, and now some bloody snake magically sprouted from nowhere and decided to have a blond snack.

"_How much of a rotten luck does this kid have?" _He fished for his drumsticks in his back pocket, dashing back to where the reptile chased Dougie.

Chuckling one of the sticks at the snake, he successfully enraged the animal to the point it gave up on Dougie and switched targets to him. With languid movements the serpent quickly caught up to Harry, and the brunet –who had stumbled– just closed his eyes gripping on the remaining stick in his hand in a futile attempt to defend himself.

"Go, Zukie," Dougie's voice prompted the brunet to crack an eye open, taking in the vision of a giant lizard biting a snake and killing it. "Are you okay, Haz?"

~#~

"It pains me to admit it, but you're a fucking genius," Dougie clapped Tom on the back.

"Thanks?" Tom snorted, still reading the text on the paper accompanying Harry's dream catcher, letters now glowing, visible in the dark.

"_The sun shines bright on its own, but would be rendered useless at night if not for the moon. Two distinct existences that can only be brought together by an eclipse."_

"Again there's a mention to an eclipse. Does anybody know when are we having one?" Tom turned the lights on again, looking at Danny who promptly avoided his stare for reasons unknown to him. Dougie seemed to know something and was definitely _delighted_.

"If I have gotten everything correct, you're saying those things Dan bought are magical and now me and Judd can't be awake at the same time till the next eclipse?"

"Pretty much," Tom nodded. "Many details are still unclear, but it seems that way."

"Next Friday," Danny looked up from his phone to his band mates. "There's an eclipse on next Friday."

"That solves part of our problem," the brown-eyed boy smiled. "The only thing is that we can't possibly keep it from Jake for more four days."

The other two knew his reasoning was correct, what would be a good explanation to the fact that Dougie was always 'not feeling well' in the morning? Things weren't looking so good, and answers didn't seem to be presenting themselves as readily as the boys would have wanted. To add more confusion to that, Dougie's dream about meeting Harry as a kid hadn't provided any clues to what could remotely be the intentions or motivations behind the actions of the enigmatic shop owner that caused all that uproar.

"Anyway, what are we doing tonight?" Dougie rubbed his hands together, looking pretty excited.

"I don't know about you, but we are sleeping," Tom stretched lazily, his shirt riding up his stomach a bit. "Not everyone here spent the entire day unconscious, you know?"

"As long as you two are not doing it together," Dougie shrugged, winking at Danny on his way up to his own room. Tom's face turned into a frown, but the curly-haired boy did nothing other than mumbling an excuse and fleeing the room like it was on fire.

~#~

"You're kinda cool, you know? Weird, but cool," Harry said to little Dougie, who had been sitting on his shoulders, giggling.

"Thanks," the boy smiled back. It seemed that after trying to save each other's lives, they had bonded and were now searching together for an exit. They hadn't ran into any other animals, and to that Harry was secretly grateful.

"You are cool, too, Zukie," he nodded at the lizard that was as large as an adult husky, when it roared at his comment. "Thanks for not letting me become snake snack back there."

The unusual trio kept walking in hopes of finding some way to get out of that place, not noticing a silhouette watching them from afar, a wrinkly smirk on their face.

"We're having some real progress," the hooded figure smiled. "Maybe you two can work things out when the time finally comes."


	9. Can't Fight the Moonlight

_Disclaimer: My head is a land of confusion and I don't even own a cat._

_A/N: I'll be impressed if this gets to 20 chapters (which I don't think it will). :P_

_Some news for you all: I hope to be updating "To Live and to Learn" sometime soon, but I'm thinking of finishing this story and then taking a break from writing._

_The contest is still going on, where are you people? :(  
_

_For anyone who possibly have been reading "Dark Fellowship" I haven't given up and I'm taking note of all ideas I had so far. I just don't know when, but it will be finished sometime this year! (as long as I'm alive and healthy, or don't get abducted by an U.F.O.)_

_**xxPUDDxx** OMG for a minute I thought you were going to say "I've been expecting you"! x) That really made me laugh! BWAhaha! _

Chapter IX

"_Why don't you go to Harry? It's not like he'll say something to you or anything,"_ Tom's words replayed inside Dougie's head. The worst part wasn't even turning into some sort of nocturnal creature – much like a vampire. Only that no blood drinking was involved, because that's just plain creepy–, but the fact his friends weren't and that meant he would spent his nights awake and _alone _for God knows how long.

"I want to know how much of that kid was really you," the bassist wondered aloud, dipping his head backwards from the armchair he was sitting on, to address a sleeping Harry lying on bed. Yes, he was on Harry's room, watching some of the films the brunet had stashed in his prized collection. "You seem a bit intellectual for the big arse you are."

Although they weren't even remotely what could be called 'friends', Dougie _really_ needed someone to talk after sleeping for nearly a day, and it seemed that night would be a long one for everybody, since Danny was avoiding Tom, and locked himself in his room, refusing to come out. Tom seemed to still be pretty _oblivious_ about what had happened, and for the time being, Dougie decided that it would be best to let the two singers talk things out.

"Oi, Judd, do you reckon there's something going on between Dan and Tom?" The question came muffled among sounds of popcorn being munched on. Obviously, Harry wouldn't be able to hear it nor even reply to it. Not that Dougie would be there, were the drummer awake, anyway.

Some time had passed since he could hear Tom knocking on Danny's door, so it either meant that Tom had persuaded the curly-haired boy to let him in, or simply gave up and would make another attempt at conversation in the morning, the latter possibility making Dougie groan internally, as he wouldn't be awake to know what happened.

"This film is really good," he paused it, getting up to go to the kitchen make himself another bowl of popcorn. "Do you want anything? Oh, yeah, I forgot that you can't hear me," he laughed opening the door and checking for any movement in the corridor, letting himself out on his mission for more popcorn.

Whether his band mates had sorted things or just went to sleep, was a completely mystery to the young bassist. There was no sign of any movement in his own room –for obvious reasons–, and the same was true for Tom's room, but it was only when he finally reached Danny's room that he could see the shadow of someone peeking from under the door, walking in circles.

"I'll be nice this time," Dougie fought the temptation of getting a cup to eavesdrop on the conversation going on behind those walls, and resigned himself to a little smile, descending the stairs with an empty plastic bowl in hand.

~#~

"Haz, I'm hungry," tiny hands wrapped themselves a bit more tightly around Harry head, as a growl came from the stomach of the little passenger on his shoulders.

"I don't have any food on me, mate," the brunet halted his walking. "The only thing we can eat in this room is Zukie."

Harry immediately regretted those words as a barrage of punches start hitting him _hard_ on the head, accompanied by some hysterical crying and some hissing from the massive lizard beside him. He quickly pried little Dougie from his neck and tried to shush the kid, making some silly faces and noises until they were both laughing.

"Sorry, Dougs," he grabbed the boy by his narrow shoulders. "I wasn't serious, it was just a joke, okay?"

Dougie wiped the remaining tears and nodded, watching as Harry got back up to his own height, telling him to stay there and not leave Zukie's side for even a second. The older boy then patted his pet's head, apologising, and sprinted on a random direction to find some food for them.

"_Where am I going to find anything edible?"_ Harry stopped running as reality –or as much as he could have of it in that place– hit him. He had made an empty promise to a little kid just cause he didn't want to see a frown on that cute little face.

"_Finding food will be easy the stronger is your desire to protect that child," _a voice came from nowhere, snapping the muscular brunet from his thoughts, prompting him to search for its source. _"If that's what you wish, just keep on searching."_

"Wait!" He looked around, but the voice was already gone. With no better option, he resumed his walking, eventually finding a garden with many fruits, like apples, bananas and grapes. Taking his shirt off and tying it on one end, he started filling the makeshift bag with food for his new friends, grinning at the thought of little Dougie's smile.

~#~

Danny kept his gaze anywhere but Tom's face. It was already hard enough to him to be in the same room with the blond, much harder would be to keep eye contact with him when his mind was being assaulted with many thoughts at once. He just didn't know what to do.

"Dan, I can't stay here all night," Tom sighed, crouching in front of his mate, putting a hand on one of the boy's knees. "You know you can tell me anything, right?"

"It's nothing, Tom. Really," he shook the hand off his leg. "You better go to bed, it's getting late and we still have to deal with Jake in the morning."

With a last glance at the curly-haired boy, Tom pushed himself up and grabbed the doorknob. He decided it would be best not to push the matter any further that night, but the thought of something bothering Danny was enough to keep him awake, even worse knowing that he could do nothing to help his best friend.

"You're right," he tried to sound a bit more cheery. "Night, Dan," he closed the door and went back to his own room, not before running straight into Dougie, knocking the boy and his popcorn to the floor.

"Oi, look where you're going, Tommo!" he huffed from the floor. "And it took me so long to decide on what flavour to microwave, too!"

Tom couldn't help but let a snort-like laugh escape, being showered with some popcorn in retaliation. Soon both were having a full out popcorn war, laughing like two kids. Their fun didn't last long because Danny flung his door open and asked them to be quiet because he needed some sleep, slamming the door shut with more force than really necessary.

"I take that you two didn't talk too much about what happened, eh?" Dougie raised an eyebrow at Tom. "Again, I would be rightly pissed, if the person I liked just kissed me without even realising it."

"What?"

"If you need me, I'll be in Judd's room. That twat is a surprisingly nice company when he's unconscious, and his film collection is great," Dougie gave a last laughed, going to get a broom to clean the mess they did, leaving Tom hanging with a lot of questions.

~#~

"Still hungry?"

"No, I'm not," Dougie had difficulty laughing, feeling so stuffed from all the fruits they ate, his tummy round like he had swallowed a football. "Thanks!"

"You're very welcome, little mate," Harry ruffled the blond hair, chuckling a bit. Not much was clear to him how he managed to find a bloody _garden _amidst that emptiness and yellowness, but he was glad to be able to keep his promise.

Their lunch –could be breakfast or dinner, as well– was very simple, but it had a good variety of fruits, and he inwardly made a victory sign when Dougie revealed an immense love for fruits, especially bananas and apples, his blue eyes shimmering at the sight of the food.

Small arms wrapped Harry's neck in a hug and a sloppy, wet kiss was planted on his cheek, making him laugh when he got told that his cheek _"scratched"_ and was _"weird"_. The drummer then spent the whole time watching the kid feast, with fondness in his eyes. He had never been the kind to do well with kids –his baby niece cried every time she saw him–, though he started to think otherwise, because it seemed like little Dougie genuinely liked him, and, from what he could see, he was starting to like the kid, as well.

"_Maybe it's that 'paternal instinct' my brother told me about?" _he chuckled once more, breaking free from his thoughts when he felt something poke at his side – a dozing boy burying himself in his ribs. "You're already sleeping?"

Using his shirt as a blanket, Harry enveloped the boy with it, feeling a bit drowsy himself. Zukie also came near, taking the spot on his other side, resting the scaly head on his lap, long tail circling them in a protective pattern. With no worries in mind, the brunet let himself fall asleep, not realising that a tree sprouted from nowhere behind them, serving as a shelter over their heads.

~#~

"What's that sound?" Harry murmured, trying to cover his eyes from the sunlight flooding his room, ultimately annoyed by the sound of people talking. Strange people talking _inside_ his room. With a leap, he found himself to be in the same clothes he had the day before, the sound coming from his television.

Upon sobering up, he noticed how his DVD collection was scattered on the floor, a trail of popcorn leading to some limbs that could be seen from behind his armchair, hanging at odd angles. First thing that struck him as strange was the fact that really didn't invite people to his room, much less to _watch_ his films with him –which is sort of a 'Harry time'–. Walking closer to the asleep figure, blood and anger boiled in his guts when he saw Dougie with a bowl with some popcorn on his lap, drooling all over the leather of his chair.

"You–" he motioned to push the blond to the floor, but stopped middle way in his action, catching a glimpse of a smile on the boy's features. One that reminded him so much of little Dougie's own. "You're lucky enough that I'm not throwing you out the window, Poynter," he growled.

Picking the bassist up in bridal style, Harry crossed the door to Dougie's room, positioning the boy in bed with not so much politeness. He was already doing the guy who turned his room in a battlefield a favour, he didn't need to be gentle, as well.

"It must be rather early, but I should start my morning," he allowed himself into his bathroom using the door connected to Dougie's room, seeing his face for the first time since he woke up, and he didn't like what he saw. _At all._ "POYNTER!"

Harry's entire face was covered in doodles made with with fibre-tip pen: his left cheek had half a dozen _winged penises, ARSEHOLE _could be seen on his forehead in massive letters, and he also sported a curly moustache over his upper lip, accompanied by a monocle around his left eye. His eyelids also had tiny penises on them. Even though his vocabulary was pretty wide, the only word Harry had in his mind was _'strangle'_.

"Tom, I'm _so_ going to kill that fucker!" He barged into Tom's room, not giving a flying fuck about how early it was. Much to his surprise, Tom wasn't in bed, and that thought alone made his heart speed up considerably. It was just too early for the blond to have gone _anywhere_. "Tom's gone," he breathed, leaning against the door in astonishment.


	10. Brighter Than Sunshine

_Disclaimer: Would sell my soul for a chance of owning them all._

_A/N: I'm not dead, but my old computer is, hence why I just dropped off the face of the earth for so long! :(_

_I'd like to thank the boys and girls new around here for the feedback. Don't be shy about calling me on my own bullshit!_

_The contest ends this week (Friday), if you're planning on submitting your work, now's the time! ;) For more info see the JML forum!_

_**xxPUDDxx** Let's say we sorta think alike. ;) BWAhaha!_

**_Galaxydefender _**_Not quite, but you're very sharp for noticing that detail! It will be explained later, though! hehe!_

Chapter X

"It's too early in the morning for this shit," Tom groaned and covered his head with a pillow, trying to sink farther into the futon he made with some covers and blankets. He didn't know what had prompted him to sleep on the floor, but now he was glad he did, because Harry –that voice was unmistakable– apparently had missed him and he now could just go back to sleep.

The sun was shining bleakly through his window shade, revealing that it had to be some ungodly hour and he wasn't supposed to be awake. For there was just one 'fucker' in their house, most likely, Dougie had committed some mischief and Harry wasn't too pleased about it. No news here.

_"And Dan's acting weird, too,"_ the blond singer yawned. "But it all can wait more 2 or 3 hours," he smiled half-conscious, hearing no more of the pounding their drummer had been doing on Danny's door, because everybody knew that not even an apocalypse could wake him up.

~#~

"I just want to be alone for a while, mate," Danny let his head fall back into the pillow, hearing footsteps getting farther away from his door. To be honest, he hadn't had any sleep the night before, mulling everything that happened over and over.

The buzzing inside his head seemed to have got louder, now that the sun was beginning to intrude his room, carefully, like some sort of burglar in the night. From any angle he tried to look at the situation, Danny just couldn't figure out what was bothering him so much, and the one thing he was sure of, was that Tom kissing him was completely _inappropriate_.

"Stupid Tom, why would you do tha'?" the blue-eyed boy asked Bruce Springsteen, who had been listening to him wail about how that _"could mess everything up"_ and _"fuck with a promising future"_. Like the many times before that Danny had asked for advice, Bruce said nothing back, staying in the same position he was before, playing his guitar with eye closed. "Now I'm bonkers for spending the whole night talking to a wall poster."

Pondering what to do next, he finally resigned to trying to go to sleep for the nth time, even one hour of sleep would do him some good, as he was already exhausted from overthinking things and fighting the urge to just barge into Tom's room and set the record straight (or so to speak, because he wasn't sure what had happened).

~#~

"Let me guess, I'm doing the Cinderella thing again, passed out somewhere," Dougie looked around the yellow city he was in. It was the very same colour as the room he had been to before, but buildings, streets, cars, and trees filled the space, giving off a doll house feeling, as everything was yellow, only varying in shades.

"I think you mean 'Sleeping Beauty', and that would suit you rather well," a male voice prompted Dougie to spin around and meet a skinny brunet with dazzling blue eyes, blond highlights in his hair and an eyebrow piercing. He could be a blond with dark highlights for all Dougie knew, but that would be unlikely, so he settled for 'brunet'. "Judd?"

"I haven't seen you in ages, and that's the first thing you got to say to me? That hurts, Douglas," Harry grinned, closing the distance between them with two long strides and a fierce hug, despite his scrawny looking appearance. "Where have you been?"

"This nice personality... Haz, is that you?" Dougie brought a hand to his mouth, realization that the teenager in front of him could _never_ be the arsehole Harry, but the little Harry from the day before. "You sure have grown! And what with the _"It's been ages"?_ We were together yesterday!"

Breaking their hug, Harry chuckled a bit at Dougie's confusion and told him that the last time they saw each other had been over ten years, but he never gave up hope on finding his blond friend again, although admitting to being surprised how the bassist managed to look the same for ten years.

"You're the one who aged ten years _in a day_, you weirdo," the bassist shot back, eyes still scanning Harry from head to toe, gaping in disbelief. "What's even happening with this Lego city, anyway?"

"Guess your memory isn't the same," Harry sighed and shook his head. "We have a lot to talk about, but first I want you to come with me somewhere else," he grinned, offering Dougie his open hand.

~#~

"_Went on a run to blow some steam off. Only way I figured out that didn't involve killing that Poynter fucker._

_Harry"_

"Nobody's dead, that's a good sign," Tom laced his baby pink apron around his waist and proceeded to make some pancakes –indulging to his cravings once in a while was never a sin–, whistling happily to the tune of a new song he had been writing and was yet to show Danny. _"If he still wants to look at you in the face,"_ his mind added bitterly.

Compelled to a happier mood by his own poppy tune, Tom resumed his actions and went on raid through the contents of a bag he got from the nearby grocery shop, pulling a bottle of chocolate syrup with a pleased, wide grin.

"I'll make a mental note to run some more later," he giggled, going back to his rather _obscene_ breakfast.

~#~

The place was far from being one of the most visually pleasant locations Dougie had ever been, but little Harry –maybe not so little now– asked him with that kicked puppy face and with his natural charms; it was clear that he couldn't possibly say no, even though something seemed a bit off with the other teenager.

Waiting for _something_ to happen, Dougie took a seat on a chair at his right, apprehensively trying to locate Harry or any sign of another living soul in that bloody yellow theatre. His nerves were starting to get the better of him, when a loud click from behind golden curtains –dirty to the point of being almost light brown– announced the beginning of their movement, revealing a young guy smartly dressed and piano that seemed to shine like the sun itself.

"My name's Harry Judd and I'm going to play a song for you all," he bowed going to the spot in front of the instrument.

For a moment, Dougie looked sideways to try to catch if there was anybody else in the room, but upon seeing anyone else, he started clapping, to which Harry smiled back, just before turning his full attention to his (now) blue piano.

With a deep breath, his fingers that had been hovering an inch from the keys started composing a soothing melody, following the fluid movements of hands roaming back and forth, mesmerizing all that could hear it. From where he was sitting, Dougie could see the drummer brow furrowed in deep concentration, as his hands waltzed in an elegant way, and he remembered talking about music being one of the things they both loved.

"The kid's insanely good," he mumbled to himself. Harry rose once more, looking expectantly, and Dougie found himself clapping and wolf whistling like it had been blink-182 in that stage.

"Thank you for coming," the brunet bowed once again, disappearing behind the curtains that closed as quickly as they opened. He jogged his way back to his sole spectator, breathing heavy as he awaited for an answer. "What did you think?"

"No singing? What kind of presentation is that? I want my money back," the blond frowned, though he started laughing not too long after.

"You prick!" Harry hit him on the arm. "I'm asking if you liked it or not!"

"Incredible, Haz. I'm glad I could see you showcase your talent." They shared a second hug, one that lasted slightly longer, as it seemed that Harry didn't want to let go. "So, what's next?"

"Let me change into something more practical, and you will see," he ran off, winking at Dougie. "You better keep your cute arse just where you are!"

~#~

The smell of Tom's cooking rapidly took over the kitchen, eventually reaching Danny's nostrils, who was just pulling a shirt over his head and descending the stairs, strangely not too tired from his power nap, stomach protesting in response to the good aroma his nose picked up.

"Is Harry cooking?" Danny frowned. "It's sorta early, maybe he gave up on killing Dougs?"

Just as he talked to himself, Harry appeared at the bottom of the stairs, taking the opposite direction to his. Judging from the sweaty state his band mate was in, Danny concluded that he had been working out, shirt slung over his shoulder and skin glistening with sweat, highlighting every muscle from his abs in a way that was even understandable for him why the girls –and boys– seemed to throw themselves at his drummer.

"Morning, Dan," he greeted in between short breaths. "Have you seen Tom? I don't think he slept home yesterday."

"Morning! He's probably taking a shower or somethin'," Danny chuckled. "Unless we now have a cooking ghost in this house."

Both boys laughed and went their separated ways, Danny reaching the kitchen to find a pile of pancakes _soaking_ in chocolate –much more than it could be considered healthy– slicing a bit and shoving it in his mouth. He was about to get a second bite when he a voice spoke from behind him, making him drop his fork to the floor.

"I guess I'm already forgiven," Tom wiped his hands on the pink apron. "Whatever is that I may have done to you."

"I told ya we're cool, Tom," a dismissively shrug was the only answer he could give to that veiled question. "Harry's looking for ya."

"We're _clearly_ not cool, and we _need_ to talk, Dan. You know that," the blond sighed. "And if hadn't Harry had those stupid earphones on, he would have heard me call him about three times when he passed the kitchen," he stated, going to pick a clean fork for himself and another one for his friend.

~#~

The beach was as great as an all-yellow beach could be, and the only sound that could be heard was the waves crashing down on the rocks close-by. A slightly cold breeze kept running up their face, leaving cheeks flustered and sensible at touch, but not really hurting.

Not a single word had been uttered since they got there, and Dougie was starting to think that maybe the 'arsehole Judd' was still in Harry after all, just waiting for a perfect opportunity to drown him in the sea water and make it look like an accident, or simply leaving his body for the fish to eat and erase any trace of his existence.

"Haz, you know we can't stay here forever," he reasoned. "What did you wanna tell me?"

"What you think that makes somebody your soul mate, Dougs?" The question came out flat, accompanied by a lost stare at the ocean, as waves crashed down with heavy impact. "I mean, how do you know when you _fancy_ someone?"

Dougie frowned at that question. What the hell was that supposed to mean? The kid was 16 or something, what could he know about love? "Aren't you a bit young for that? Just yesterday –and I mean it _literally_– you weren't even _ten!_"

"Your memory still sucks, it was many years ago," the younger boy rolled his beautiful blue eyes. "I'm only asking because I think I might be liking somebody... but my dad wouldn't like the idea much."

"Holy shit! You mean you like _like_ a boy?"

~#~

"Do I need to cook it myself, or can we have some nice breakfast in this house?" Harry wrinkled a nose at Tom's pancakes, taking his usual seat beside Danny's.

"You're not being forced to eat it, Harold," the offended cook glared back, from where he was in front of Danny. "I'm not sharing it with you, anyway."

"Come on, Harry, at least be grateful somebody made _something_," the freckled boy offered a speck of a smile, trying to keep more trouble from arising. "Just one time won't kill your amazing body, mate."

"Yeah, I will thank your _boyfriend_ when he gets back, if that makes you happy," he stole a bite from Danny's plate. "When is Tom joining us, by the way?"


	11. Stars Fade Out

_Disclaimer: Do I own them, yet? No._

_A/N: Another national holiday means a day of free time. This is just a little treat for make up for my absence, then we'll be back to our usual update rate and finally finish it! ;)_

_Contest ends tomorrow! Last call for those wanting to submit something! :)_

_**xxPUDDxx**__ BWAhaha! Thanks! :D Yeah, I agree; It's a miracle that Dougie was able to keep himself focused on the music (or anything, really)._

Chapter XI

"That's hilarious, Harry," Tom rolled his eyes, pushing himself up from the table. "Are you five, now?"

"What you mean?" Danny asked, an uncomfortable feeling nagging on the back of his head, because it didn't look like Harry was trying to pull Tom's leg (or his, for that matter). "Tom's right in front of me."

"Now you're seeing him _everywhere_? Wow, that really must be _love_," the drummer grinned wickedly, finishing his task of sucking his fingers clean from all the chocolate. "There's nothing there."

What happened next made both Tom and Danny gasp. To emphasise his point, Harry reached out to Tom's head, but his hand didn't touch anything, slipping through the blond hair as if it was just thin air. Turning back to the blue-eyed singer, Harry just shrugged in a manner that implied "I told you so" and excused himself for a drumming session he had been craving since he passed out the night before, not without stealing another bite from his band mate's plate.

Tom, who had been paralysed the whole time, felt the need to breathe for the first time, and started coughing violently when air finally hit his lungs again, watered eyes as he tried to make it stop, looking back at an equally astonished Danny.

"Dan–"

"Yeah, I can see and hear ya, if that's what you're going to ask," he interrupted the blond, not fully understanding what happened.

Silence fell heavy and thick like a duvet over them. The possible explanations that either could think of weren't the most logical or comfortable ones, and none could pluck courage enough to say what had been on their minds for the minutes they had been silent.

"His hand went through me," the whisper-like sentence escaped Tom's lips. "It's like I'm a ghos–"

"Please, don't say tha'," Danny swallowed thick, knowing exactly what his friend was about to say, but at the same time wishing that wasn't true.

"I'm dead, Dan."

~#~

"You're not freaking out?"

"What? Do you want me to?" Dougie snorted, picking a tiny seashell by his feet and chucking it at Harry's head. "I'm not as good at freaking out as my friend Tom, but I can do a fairly good job."

"Hey! Don't go around throwing things at people, you twat," Harry laughed, feeling the sensation of uneasiness leave his body, relief automatically replacing it. He had been apprehensive of telling Dougie his biggest secret, but he should have known better about the guy he knew ever since he was a kid.

"I was just surprised, it's not a big deal," the bassist sat closer to his friend, looping and arm around the boy's shoulder. "We're mates, remember? Had survived together and all that shit?" he grinned, nudging some rib cages.

"Thanks, Dougs."

Harry leaned his head back on Dougie's shoulder, feeling a hand still rubbing his shoulder and squeezing it lightly. In the meantime that they stayed huddled together, something strange happened that caught their attention: the yellow sea presented before them started slowly –but surely– changing colours, the hue progressively changing into something more akin to blue.

"_Things are getting weirder by the minute,"_ he looked up at the sky, to still see the same golden yellow above, what by any means didn't explain why the sea would turn blue.

~#~

His new condition had proved to be more of a curse than a blessing, Tom thought after the many times Danny tried to get him to do something ghost-like, rubbing his nose as he tried to unsuccessfully go through a wall. It wasn't that they had accepted the possibility of him being dead so easily, but normality had been an exception in the band house since... well, _ever_. Only that it got a lot worse after those darn dream catchers were added to the equation, turning their lives upside-down –and they didn't find any information pertinent to the magical objects–.

"Dan, I _can't _go through walls," he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "That should have been clear after you chucked that orange at my head."

"It was worthy a try," Danny smiled sheepishly, trying to bite a laugh back. "But Harry could go through you like you were nothing!"

"I swear that you're trying to get back to me for whatever is that I did to you," the brown-eyed boy cracked an eye open. "Shouldn't we try to find my body first? I might be able to come back!"

It made sense, if there's a deceased, there's a body, that's a obvious thing. Unfortunately, or fortunately, their previous search resulted in nothing: Tom's room was exactly like it had been the night before, and no sign of him could be found. Harry obviously wasn't helping them, not after he locked himself in the studio, banging the morning away amidst the many kinds of cymbals and drums, although they couldn't hear him from outside the acoustically isolated room.

"What if ya can turn into a ghost whenever ya want?"

"I knew I shouldn't have let you watch _Danny Phantom_ with Dougie last week," Tom sighed, bringing a hand to his forehead. Just then, his phone started vibrating in his pocket, revealing Jake to be the one calling him.

"Get the phone! He'll get suspicious if you don't answer it!"

"I don't even think you know what 'suspicious' mean," he breathed deeply. "Tom speaking, what can I do for you, Jake?"

"_Hello? Tom?" _the American accent sounded from the other end. _"Tom, are you there?"_

"Hi, Jake," Danny snatched the phone away from Tom's clutch. "He's... err... busy, can I help you?"

"_Hey, Danny," the man greeted as cheery as always. "I'm calling to tell you we got an interview for a radio show promoting new bands! I'm picking you all up at 2 P.M., tell the others, okay?"_

And the conversation ended as quickly as it had begun, leaving Danny with a sour taste in his mouth, trying to absorb how could they explain the absence of _half_ the band to their manager. He turned to tell Tom the news, but were surprised with long fingers tracing his face, and tears brimming in brown eyes.

"I can touch you," Tom's lips trembled with a hint of happiness. Maybe he wasn't really dead, not when he could at least communicate with one person.

~#~

Leaving the cold beach behind, Dougie and Harry walked their way to a cosy café where they could grab a meal, _"the most delicious croissants you will ever eat"_, like his younger friend had put it. They once again talked about everything and anything that came to mind, just enjoying the company the other offered and stuffing their stomachs, but Dougie knew exactly what he wanted to ask, and maybe he wouldn't have any other opportunity, so he casually –or as casually as he could muster– switched subjects to a more sensitive topic.

"Say, Haz," he swallowed his food, clearing his throat. "Who's the lucky guy?"

"I was wondering when you would ask something," the brunet cleaned his mouth with a napkin. "You're far too curious."

"I'm not– Are you telling me or what?" he huffed.

Harry looked outside the window close to them, starting his narrative about his friend Mark, a fair-headed boy he knew since they were both five. It seemed that, somewhere along the way, those feelings of friendship developed into something more, after they hit puberty and entered their teenager years, though Mark didn't seem to be aware of his friend's feeling for him, or simply decided to ignore it. The latter proved to be true, when Dougie got told about how the Mark guy treated Harry coldly when the boy told his supposed best friend that he might like boys.

"That bastard didn't even knew you were talking about him! How could he?" a punch on the table made plates and cup clank together. "He needs to get his arse kicked!"

"Calm down, _Butty_. I'm already over him," Harry guffawed. "But I'm glad to know that I have you to defend my 'honour'," he added with a wink, making Dougie blush slightly and break eye contact.

"You're welcome, and I _don't_ like that nickname!"

"Whatever you say, _Butty_," he chuckled, sipping the tea from his cup with a satisfied smile upon his lips. "Whatever you say."

~#~

"I'm not dead!"

"You gonna be, if ya don't let go of my face," Danny pushed Tom gently away from him, still feeling the pressure of fingertips on his skin. In that very same moment, their drummer appeared with his mouth ajar and eyes widened in surprise, hands trying to get hold of anything where Tom stood.

"Tom's invisible... how?"

"He can see me?" Tom looked at Danny, ignoring the strange sensation of having Harry's hands going back and forth through his stomach.

"You _saw_ him?" the curly-haired boy blinked. Too much information at once always seemed to short-circuit his brain.

"I saw you push him and then he disappeared," Harry kept on frisking the _air_.

"_Could it be– "_ Tom took some steps away from his original spot, stopping by Danny side and taking one of the large, freckled hands in his, weaving their fingers together. Danny tried to slip his hand free, but Harry was already all over Tom, yanking the blond hair to test if his eyes were fooling him. "Get off, Harry! That hurts, you muscled git!"

"Wha–"

"I think we need to re-read those instructions for those blooming dream catchers," Tom sighed, recalling that they hadn't really seen much in those papers besides the whole 'eclipse prophecy'. "Seems like I'll have to hold onto you for now, Dan. Sorry!"

"S'okay," Danny mumbled in defeat, giving an assuring squeeze to Tom's hand. They could sort their problems after finding out what was wrong with his friend.

The trio then went to the living room, sitting around four pieces of old looking paper over the coffee table. Harry's and Dougie's still had the same information they had before, but nothing more could be said about Danny's or Tom's which provided them absolutely no clue.

"So, you two are stuck together?" Harry plopped on his back, using his crossed arms as a pillow. "What are even the objective of those darned things? Getting us all in trouble?"

Tom looked up from the paper he was reading, staring blankly at the ceiling in search of an answer, but coming up completely empty. Danny, tired of all that _"voodoo bullshit"_, snatched the paper from Tom tossing all four pieces together on the floor, complaining about how he wanted his life back to normal and huffing like a little kid.

"I don't know how you do that, but you're the best accidental genius I've ever met," the blond said, chuckling and picking up two pieces of paper from the ground, straightening both together on the flat surface with his free hand, the paper below revealing words in the one above, words that had so far been invisible to their eyes:

"_Stars never fade in the morning. All they need is the dark sky to be seen and shine even more brightly."_

"Can we take a moment to give the person who wrote those things a big 'fuck you'?" Harry looked at the other two sitting in front of him with conjoined hands, sighing as he went to pick some yoghurt from the fridge.


	12. Out of Sight, Out of Mind

_Disclaimer: Sometimes I get inspired by things in my life. But even then I own nothing!_

_A/N: Just warning you all that my new hard drive has some bad blocks (you could say that's sorta like Alzheimer on a machine, it gets worse with time and you're not able to save things) and I'm having trouble even turning the goddamned computer on. If I drop off the face of the the earth again, you already know what happened. :(_

_**TooCloseForComfort** I almost forgot: If you are reading this, thank you so much for the kind messages and I'm glad you enjoyed some of the things I write. Since I can't seem to able to PM you, this is the only way I get to say thanks! :D_

_**CannibalHolocaust **BWAhaha! I'm not sure if I really got it, but thanks? *pterodactyl screech* ;D_

_I'd like to dedicate this one to my friend **lozzigurl** (but in fact I'm just blaming you and you know why)! :) *evil cackle*!_

Chapter XII

A few hours later, and none of the boys were any closer to crack the riddle or find a way to get Tom back to normal. What they did find out, was that it wasn't simply a question of being invisible (as Harry could simply pass through the boy earlier), but more of being _unreachable_; being there and at the same time, not. Or at least that was true for the people who aren't Danny, as he seemed to be able to hear and interact Tom with normally, even allowing his friend to be seen and touched, as long as they kept physical contact.

"Does that mean you two are spending the _whole_ day together?" Harry had his brow knitted, inspecting how the letters would appear and disappear upon overlapping Tom and Danny's papers. "How are we going to explain that to Jake?"

"We'll think of something," Tom looked at his hand, a bit small when compared to Danny's, and back to his friends. "At any rate, we should get ready, it's almost time he's here."

"I'll take another shower be–"

"What?" Tom and Danny asked in unison.

Harry had that glint of wickedness in his eye, like when they all played Xbox and he came up in first. Danny being his usual self, didn't really get, but Tom's guts told him that nothing good would come of that.

"Enjoy your bath together!" The drummer said, his grin was almost predatory now, satisfaction dripping from each spoken word.

"That's not–" A increasingly panicky Tom tried to get his hand free, blood rushing to his face at fast pace, giving his cheek an incriminating crimson hue. "Dan, you can let go now."

"I was about to ask ya the same thing," the freckled boy scratched behind his ear with his free hand.

"Fuck," Tom whispered, the sound of Harry's guffaw being the only thing that could be heard in their living room.

~#~

"Are we really doing this, Dan?"

"Unless you wanna go to our first interview all greasy, yes, we're doing this," Danny finished his statement with a look of a father explaining something complicated to his child, tugging Tom with him into the bathroom.

Things were definitely getting out of hand with the whole magic thing: Dougie was out like a light, Harry was in a perpetual state of bliss –it was more due to him being a prick than anything else, Danny reckoned– , and the singers were now literally stuck with each other, some strange force keeping their hands together.

"I rather not have to do this," Tom looked at their bare feet, feeling a bit exposed in front of his friend. Sure, they all had seen each other naked at some point of their short life as a band, but it always happened in a different context –not they were used to magical happenings that often, or at all–.

Danny contemplated for a second what to say, but after failing miserably and having his mouth open and close like a goldfish, he simply discarded his underwear with his free hand, doing the same to Tom's, who instinctively tried to cup himself, taken aback by such sudden actions.

"Dan–"

"We don't have much time, _Fletcher_," the brunet reasoned. "Come on!"

"_This is beyond weird," _Tom thought, though he obliged, knowing that his band mate was right about their predicament, and the faster they did it, the faster they would be _over_ it.

Danny worked fast on the taps, allowing the slightly cold water to run through his locks, as cascade down his shoulders. He didn't seem to realise what he was doing, but Tom was certainly staring, watching the movement of curls –heavy and wet– as well as shoulders, that proved to be almost hypnotising.

"Tommy?" Danny's voice broke him free from his trance. "Help?"

"I'm already regretting _everything_," he helped Danny open the bottle of shampoo, hands awkwardly working together to scrub the scalp beneath that mess of black hair.

If asked, none of the boys would be able to what, or how exactly it began, but soon they were hurling foam at each other, and giggling like schoolgirls. All the discomfort and awkwardness had vanished, much like the first they met, a feeling of familiarity that was ever present in their relationship.

Danny fumbled with the taps again, before switching places with his best mate. The water felt a bit warmer than it had been a few moments ago, and Tom smiled fondly at the thought of someone caring for him so much that wasn't his mum or family –not to mention that Danny _knew_ the ideal temperature for him– . "Thanks," he muttered to Danny over his shoulder, pointing to the water, blushing as his eyes were met with a wide smile.

They continued their cleaning ritual, scrubbing each other's backs and finally stepping out of the shower to dry themselves with fluffy towels. Things were so much easier when the two hands doing a task belonged to the same person, and again they found themselves horsing around, like it was common practice for them.

"You're still alive, aren't ya?" Danny asked, helping dry Tom's hair and earning himself a muffled scream as response. "What?"

"I said, 'not if you keep on smothering me'," the blonde breathed. "Are you _sure_ you don't hate me?"

"Aww, I'd never hate you," he closed the gap between them with an one-armed hug.

_"Am I interrupting you? It's almost time to go,"_ Harry banged on the door, making heads snap in the direction of the sound.

"Sometimes I really agree with Dougs, he's a prick," Danny groaned.

"Dan?" Tom risked, feeling his face hotter by the second. "We're still _naked_ and you're kinda _too_ close." And both got as red as beetroots.

~#~

Dougie put his cup down, had drained all the tea from it and feeling pretty full from all pastries they had eaten. From the other side of their table, Harry was smiling at him, a smile Dougie recognised as his own, whenever he watched his lizards doing nothing particularly exceptional.

"Do you plan on watching me all day, or are we going somewhere else?" He finally spoke, shifting under the boy's gaze.

"Sorry, it's entertaining to watch you eat," he got up from his seat. "But yeah, there's this place I want you to see. Coming?"

"Only if you really want me to go," Dougie teased cheekily, his fringe falling on his eyes.

He didn't anticipate any of that, but Harry lowered his head to whisper in his ear _"Nothing would make me happier"_, lips ghostly brushing his skin, the sensation of electricity running through his earlobe, hazing the bassist's mind for a second.

"Come on, Poynter," Harry waved from the entrance, and soon Dougie was following him into the streets to a new unknown destination.

They walked all the way back to the beach, although in a direction different than the one they took some time before. Dougie noticed the presence stairs leading underground and his face morphed into a frown that he didn't really felt the need to disguise from Harry, as he stepped in front of the boy stopping him with a hand on his chest.

"You're taking me to the _subway_?" he cocked an eyebrow. "Really, Haz?"

"Good Lord, why are you so sceptical?" The brunet dropped his head in defeat, eyes falling on Dougie's hand on his chest, and going back to look him in the eye. "Do you trust me?"

"What kind of question is that, Haz?"

"The kind you answer with 'yes' or 'no'?" The sarcastic tone sounded familiar to Dougie, more than he would probably have liked, but he only tried to ignore it.

"Fine," he sighed, and Harry's hands promptly spun him around and covered his eyes, stepping close behind him. Maybe a bit _too_ close.

They walked some more over to the stairs, descending the steps slowly –as Dougie still had his eyes covered– and finally reaching a place with artificial illumination, as the blue hue that slipped through the fingers blocking his vision had told Dougie. _"You can open your eyes now,"_ the voice whispered into his ear, the sensation of stubble brushing against his skin making the blond boy quiver.

"Wow!"

The place was magnificent in every aspect, from the transparent ceiling the allowed them watch fish swimming over them like a huge aquarium with some sort of ambient-like light that blended with the surroundings, everything forged in resistant glass. Dougie turned to ask his friend where they were, but the only response he got was a finger pointing to a sign over their heads that read "Sunk Bay Zoo".

"I just remembered that you liked lizards," Harry winked, getting a hold of Dougie's wrist. "What are we waiting for?" And they disappeared inside the tunnel-shaped zoo, Dougie being dragged by his arm all the time.

~#~

The trip to the radio station was anything but normal, awkwardness hanging thick like fog over the four passengers of the car. Jake surely hadn't bought the excuse about Tom paying a bet he lost to Harry as the reason why he and Danny were holding hands, nor he did seem convinced about Dougie having a stomach ache, but the man said nothing about any of that.

They arrived at a modest-sized building, being welcomed by a security guy as tall and wide as a refrigerator, who seemed to recognise Danny from somewhere else and was happy in seeing him again –revealed to be brother of one of Danny's old classmates–. Once inside, the foursome was taken upstairs to wait for the person responsible for interviewing them greet them. Not too long after, a energetic girl electric blue hair crossed the doors, a smile plastered on her face.

"And I take you're the next ones to go on air, right?" she smiled at them. "I'm Lauren, I'll be interviewing you today."

"Hi, Lauren," the three boys replied in unison, whilst Jake shook hands with the energetic girl.

"Come on, guys," she waved at them to follow her, entering a room with a huge table and microphones hanging everywhere. "Make yourselves at home!"

~#~

"If that doesn't make us famous, nothing else will," Harry clutched his sides, trying to regain his breath. He had been laughing ever since the fiasco that was the interview ended.

"Put a sock in it, Judd!" Danny growled from the back seat, at the same time trying to assure Tom that things weren't _that_ bad. Or so he wanted to believe, trying to erase the cringeworthy interview from his mind.

"_How long have you two been dating? You look perfect for each other," the blue-haired girl asked them out of nowhere, looking at the conjoined hands. "I'm just being honest, you're totally adorable!" she grinned excitedly._

_Tom's face fell , Harry fought a laugh, Jake's eyes went wide, and Danny started coughing. None of them were prepared for that and they had told her before it was just banter, but it seemed like Lauren didn't fully believed them and wanted to get to the bottom of that._

"We can kiss this band goodbye," Tom unconsciously rested his head on Danny's shoulder, being surprised by a large hand stroking his hair, but relenting to the good feeling, regardless.

"Come on, boys! Let's see things on the bright side," Jake cast the 'couple' an apologetic look through the rear view mirror. "Now you're going to be known for something... erm... unique?"

"Are you serious, mate?" Tom cracked an eye open. "Well, it didn't last long, but we got to live the dream."

~#~

"How did it go?"

"Their reaction was hilarious!" the girl with blue hair stopped brushing it, looking over her should to address a short woman of advanced age. "Although, I don't think they _really_ get what's happening."

The middle aged woman smiled, pacing over to where the girl was located in front of the mirror, taking the brush from her hand and starting to brush the cyan coloured locks. The teenager emitted a sound of satisfaction and clapped excitedly when the brush started moving by itself, finishing the work she was doing moments before.

"I wish I was old enough to do that, aunt Tea," Lauren pouted. She never understood why she didn't get to use her powers before 21, but there wasn't much she could do.

"Be patient, my child. Everything in the due time," the woman gave a tired laugh, patting her niece's head. "_Everything._"


	13. Blurred Lines

_Disclaimer: One day I'm going to own my dreams._

_A/N: I'm still having technical issues, but at least I could get this one finished before parting ways with this crappy machine! *foams at the mouth*_

_**xxPUDDxx**__ Ugh, I noticed that I lost my last note for you somewhere. *frowns* Yeah, Harry's sort of a dickhead to them, but he's a good guy at his very core. Let's hope he'll have some chance to prove that before the story is over! ;)_

Chapter XIII

"Still stuck?"

"Pretty much," Tom replied absent-mindedly, not even bothering to look up from his book to Harry, as he was still pretty arsed about what happened earlier in the afternoon. Danny was sitting on the floor, watching some random, silly programme on TV, arm looped around one of Tom's thighs due to their positions.

"Come on, mate," the muscular brunet plopped down by the Tom's side, looping an arm around his neck. "It wasn't that bad, the girl seemed to like us."

"Sod off, Harold! You're not my most favourite person right now," he tried to break contact with a sudden shrug, but failing as Harry was obviously stronger than him.

"Look, I'm sorry for everything, okay?" He made Tom look at him by holding the blond boy's chin in place. "We're going to find a solution for this mess and we're going to be huge!" He smiled reassuringly, blue eyes shimmering with confidence.

"I don't even understand how you can be amazing and sort of an arse all rolled into one," Tom giggled, turning serious upon hearing somebody clear their throat rather loudly. He and Harry looked down to see Danny watching then with arched eyebrows.

"Interrupting something, am I?"

"Actually, we're finished here," Harry gave Tom a peck on the cheek, springing from the sofa. "No need to get jealous," he winked at Danny, consulted the clock on the wall and went upstairs, as night started to approach outside.

"Why did you even have to say that? He was just being nice for once," Tom scowled at him, feeling lost when Danny's just replied with a shrug and turned his attention back to the television.

~#~

Their little trip around the zoo/aquarium/tunnel had been incredible, Dougie had to admit it. There were a huge variety of animals –ranging from bears to abyssal fish– and almost every single of them that he could think of, he saw, if only for a pair.

Harry also turned out to be some sort of Steve Irwin, pointing a few curious facts about some of the specimens they had seen, clearly showing that he at least got to pay too much attention to his Biology lessons, or simply liked such things so much, to the point that he would read about that on Wikipedia or somewhere else. He was different from arsehole Judd in many aspects, and that was certainly one of them, though Dougie couldn't be sure as he and the drummer never got to know each other past the essential information –name and nothing else–.

"So?" Harry sat on the bench, handing a cone of ice cream to Dougie and smiling.

"So what?" Dougie slurped the bit melting before it could reach his fingers. Once again, he could feel Harry's eyes on him.

"You don't get to play the dumb blond with me, Butty," he poked the bassist on the side, making him giggle and try to bend away from two sharp fingers jabbing on his ribs. "Did you like it or not?"

"Oh," the bassist feigned innocence. "Yeah, was sorta cool."

"What? You–"

With a quick turn of events, Dougie was flat against the bench –his ice cream forgotten on the ground– , Harry holding his own menacingly over Dougie's face and straddling his hips. Being smaller than his friend, Dougie tried to break free with a hip thrust, but stopped after the second or third try, because that seemed –and felt– completely wrong. Mainly, because Harry gave him a shocked look.

"Your choice: be honest about if you liked the zoo or not, or get turned into a unicorn!"

"Yer a wizard, Harry?" Dougie tried his best to make his voice sound deeper, and it did seem to work; Harry was fighting to keep his face straight, but his shoulders gave him away.

"You asked for it," the coldness of mint ice cream spread through Dougie's forehead, making him yelp and struggle a bit more under Harry's weight. Finally, the brunet rolled off of him laughing, pleased with the 'transformation spell' performed.

"Why do I even put up with you?" he took the frozen treat from his face. "From now on, I pronounce this ice cream mine," a solemn statement followed by a snort and an unnecessarily noisy lick.

"Err... There's some on your face," Harry bent a bit more to trace a finger under the fringe of blond hair and lick Dougie's cheek, tongue making quick contact with corner of the older boy's mouth. "That's better," he licked his lips and went to buy another ice cream for himself, leaving a speechless Dougie to his own confused thoughts.

~#~

Knowing that he was bound to black out as soon as the sun completely vanished from sky, Harry got to make his ritual before going to bed, which included taking a cold shower, changing on a pyjama bottom and eating something not too heavy, as he had a body to keep fit and functional and everything.

Before going to bed, a strange light shining from the opposite room, draw his attention to the door that would lead to Dougie's room.

_"Strange... Poynter is supposed to be half-dead, not throwing a fucking ____**rave**__,"_ he hesitated for a second, hand on the doorknob, but entered his band mate's room anyway. "The fuck–"

Dougie's body was glowing. _Fucking_ glowing. Like some sort of firefly on drugs, a hue of yellow mixed with blue, that ended up coming off as some sort of green. Harry got some steps closer to the bed, debating if he should or not try to shake the boy, simply call his friends to help –assuming they could indeed help in some way–, or just shrug all the magical shit and go to his own bed before things got worse.

"Not my division," he shook his head and turned to walk away, getting to the door to his bathroom.

"Ha– Harry," a low murmur brought Harry's attention back to Dougie.

"Are you awake, Poynter?" He inspected the face of the boy more closely, watching it contort, like he was in pain. Nothing he could do, though, because the sun was gone and his surroundings started to fade out in blackness, his consciousness slipping away.

"What are you doing, you muscled pedo?" Dougie woke up with a shirtless Harry pressed against his face, quickly shoving the motionless –for the most part– body from him. "I'll call the cops on your perverted arse!"

A brief glance around told him that he was, indeed, back to the real world, his own room greeting him with poster covered walls. A feeling of relief took over his body for a brief moment, but it soon got replaced by anxiety and memories of him and young Harry.

~#~

"Haz... are you– are you flirting with me?"

"What gives?"

"Oh, I don't know! _Maybe_ the fact you're taking me places, buying me food, being ultra flirty..."

"And what would you say if I said 'yes'," he shuffled a bit closer to Dougie. "Would that be so bad?"

"Since I'm older than you? Yes, you're 14 or something, you jailbait!" Dougie mimicked Harry's actions, but on the opposite direction, trying to get away from the boy.

"I know you're not even 18, Dougs. And I'm almost 17, we're pretty much the same age and over 16!"

To that statement Dougie tried to protest, but were more baffled by the logic behind that: if Harry had met him years ago (like the boy had pointed out), how could they have nearly the same age?

"Harry–"

An index finger silenced his lips. Harry's eyes were trained on his face, scanning every single detail, like he wanted to permanently imprint that image on his brain. Finally, a smile showed up on his face and he whispered the last words on Dougie's ears, taking extra care to bite lightly the boy's earlobe when he was finished.

"Just take a moment to realise that the only problem you pointed out was our age gap, not that I'm a boy or that you don't like me."

And that's when he woke up to real Harry passed out _on_ him.

~#~

"Shouldn't we go check on Harry? He could be sleeping with his head in the loo!"

"You worry too much," Danny dismissed with a snort, too engrossed on their Ludo match. Not that the game was that incredibly thrilling or anything –and Tom already got one token to the finish line and two more out of his yard– for him, only that he preferred not to deal with more magical shit and Harry could take care of himself, he didn't need Tom around.

"You _do_ know you're acting like you're jealous, right?" Tom rolled his die, scoring a six and another roll.

"What if I am?" Danny raised his voice in frustration, covering his mouth immediately after Tom's wide eyes fell on him.

"Dan, is there anything you want to tell me?" Tom swallowed thickly, feeling the hand in his get a bit sweaty.

"I'm back!" Dougie looped an arm around the neck of each band mate, grinning like a loon. "What's my favourite couple up to?"

"I don't think we're your favourite anything, and we're _not_ a couple," Tom pushed the bassist away. "But it's good to see you again, Dougs."

Danny smiled and said something about missing Dougie too, although his mind was wandering as far as it possibly could, trying to make any sense of everything that had happened them lately. Why was he reacting so bad to all that? Nobody was blaming him, even though he was the one who bought the darned things, and now he was even mad at Tom for some unknown reason. Or maybe not that unknown, but simply ignored by the rational part of his brain, one that saw denial as the easiest escape for that problem.

"What about Harry?" Tom's questioning brought Danny back from his internal struggle.

"I found that wanker sleeping on top of me," Dougie flinched. "It's so hard being irresistible, but he should be able to control himself!" He made the other two laugh.

The trio continued their conversation, which mainly revolved around updates about what happened to them whilst Dougie was out and what Dougie had seen in his dreams, although the younger band member chose not to give away all the details; many of them he didn't seem to comprehend himself.

"It doesn't seem like we're closer to getting to the bottom of this," Tom sighed.

"But if things carry on this way, it won't be long till you get to Danny's! Or him to yours. It doesn't really matter as long as there's consent and love," he batted his eyelashes rapidly.

"Douglas Lee Poynter, you come back here right now!" Tom shrieked after the laughing teenager running up the stairs throwing a cushion at him. Danny resigned to stay still like a statue, eyes almost falling from its sockets and trying not to think of the implications of what Dougie said.

~#~

"Shit, I'm probably passed out on the floor now," Harry grunted, coming to the entrance of some woods, blue like the rest of everything else around him. "I suppose I'll find Dougs here, too?"

"Hazza!" a male voice coming from _above_ startled the brunet, and not long after Harry got knocked, a blond bearded man now sitting on his groin, straddling him. "Hazza!" he called again, this time smiling really wide.

"Just give one reason to not kick your arse, _Poynter_," he glared at the man above him.

"Aww, don't you love me any more?" Dougie pouted. "I thought we would stay friends after 20 years or so! Look, Zukie is happy to see you, too!"

From the sky descended a 10 feet winged dragon, roaring and lowering his head just above his master's, expelling smoke from his nostrils. It didn't seem like the creature would attack him, but Harry felt his body instinctively stiff with fear.

"Dougs? Zukie? What the happened to you two?" he managed to say, regaining control over his body, and resting his elbows against the muddy ground to take a better look at his friends' faces.

"This is what we humans call 'growing up', Harry," the blond replied cheekily. "Now, belt up and follow me. You're the King of the Jungle's guest for a day!"


	14. A King's Move

_Disclaimer: I own nothing. *has a mental breakdown*_

_A/N: It's like my second update in 2 days or something? It seems like I won't be able to finish it this month, but I'll try harder!_

_I swear that every single one of my stories ends with some inappropriate joke (and it's always Dougie for some reason)? *sighs*_

**xxPUDDxx**_ Now that you pointed it out, I didn't think there were so many elements in that previous chapter! BWAhahaha! Yeah, it's a bit impossible not to love Tom and his beautiful soul. ;)_

_For those new around here, welcome! We have a forum and a community for the JML tag, you can check out on my profile. Come say hello to us and introduce yourself! :D  
_

Chapter XIV

"You're what?"

"King. The man. I call the shots and everything else?" Dougie looked over his shoulder to Harry, still adjusting something around Zukie's enormous neck.

"Who died and made you king?" Harry sat up, checking for the some muddy spots on his clothes.

"My dad, you insensitive prick!" he turned to face Harry and deadpanned, erupting with laughter when the brunet started apologising incoherently. "You fell for that! I can't believe it!"

Taking a deep breath, Harry fought the initial instinct of getting back at the blond man in some way, and for the first since they met, took his time to watch this new Dougie in front of him. He had certainly put up some muscle on, trading his lean figure for a more toned and defined appearance; his hair seemed to be a bit darker than what Harry could remember of him as a kid, favouring his eyes in a endearing way; the facial hair also gave him the air of a respectable man, but that thought would last for as long as he kept his mouth shut, the drummer reckoned.

"Haz? Hello?" A face entered his field of vision, intruding his personal space on a alarming level. He couldn't help but jerk his head backwards, falling back into the blue mud and dirtying himself further. "You scared me spacing out like that," a calloused hand took a hold of Harry's, pulling him up. This new Dougie certainly didn't have too much trouble heaving him.

"I suppose I should thank you," an idea crossed Harry's mind, as he took leisurely steps towards his friend. "By giving you a hug!"

The scene was rather hilarious to watch, Dougie begging for mercy and a dirty Harry chasing after him like some sort of maniac. Zukie simply decided to ignore all that commotion and rested his body on a circular formation, bringing his tail to circle his body, waiting for a new command from his master.

Eventually, Harry caught up to Dougie, and the two rolled around in the mud, the smaller man receiving a complete make-over (if one could call having your face smudged with blue dirt that), but not without struggling a bit. When finished with his work, Harry noticed how exhausted he and Dougie were, both panting hard, with a smile plastered on their faces, not daring to speak a single word.

"I missed you," Dougie decided to break he silence. "All these years I'd been waiting for the day I would see again."

Such statement caught Harry off guard. What he did even mean by that? It looked like the 'little Dougs' was a grown man, but they had only seen each other the day before, that much he knew. Letting curiosity get the best of him, Harry opened his mouth to ask for more detail, but found himself beat to it when his friend spoke again.

"Are you gonna stay on top of me all day?" Decidedly sounded as a rhetorical question. "I think those are your balls on my knee."

"Sorry, mate!"

"I'm joking, Hazza," Dougie winked. "We'll go get ourselves clean and then we're going for a little tour," he pointed to his asleep lizard, beaming with excitement.

~#~

Despite of everything his band mates would say, Tom was adamant about not being ready to be a parent after Dougie bugged him so much to go to the cinema. He felt like dealing with a hyperactive 8 years-old, and don't you forget about Danny being strange around him and possibly still pissed about something he was _almost_ sure he didn't do.

"I'm ready!" The youngest member reappeared at the bottom of their stairs in new clothes and hair damp from shower, beaming like the sun itself.

"I'll eternally hold this night against you, Dougie," Tom warned. "You sort of just sold your soul to me."

"Can I ask for fame and fortune instead, or it too late?"

Danny, who had been strangely quiet, laughed to his heart's contents; he would be the biggest liar if he said that their bassist wasn't a cheeky –and funny– lad. Tom took an admonitory look at him, and looked back at Dougie before continuing his lecture.

"And Harry?" the brown-eyed boy inquired.

"He's sleeping in my bed. I couldn't bother to drag his fit arse back to his room," Dougie shrugged. "Can we please go now?"

"I suppose," Tom's face softened a bit and blossomed into a soft smile, his dimple poking on his cheek. "Just remember that you're paying everything." And they got out to a boy's night minus Harry.

~#~

"I'm not going in there," Harry shook his head for the fourth time in less than 5 minutes.

"How are we supposed to get clean, then?" Dougie reasoned, folding his arms. They stood on a huge rock above a crystal clear lake, a cascade crashing with a mighty roar not too far behind the blond. It was a bit too high for Harry's tastes.

"There's no point in getting clean, if we're not going to get out _alive_, Dougie."

"If you're just shy, I can go first!"

"What?"

A top got flung at Harry's face. Soon, also, were the other boy's trousers and the band that tied part of his long hair back, and Dougie stood there in all his _glory_ in front of Harry, not bothering to cover a single bit, mischievous grin on his face. Surely he had no problem in being naked like this, and it made the drummer feel uncomfortable. Not because he was insecure of his own body, or anything of the sorts, but because he could tell he was _staring_ at Dougie's body: pectoral, abs, _round little butt_ –his traitorous mind added–, and that just felt _wrong_.

"You're still clothed, Harry?" The question came in unamused tone. "You leave me no choice."

Wolf whistling –or at least seemed so, he couldn't hear a thing, though it was evident that Dougie was blowing through he fingers he had in his mouth– the boy called his enormous pet who just sneezed on his reluctant friend, covering him in slimy and sticky lizard _snort_.

"I hate you all so much," Harry announced through gritted teeth, shaking his arms with disgust.

"Now, be a good boy, and show me your sexy, little body," he guffawed, watching Harry start to shed his mucus dampened clothes in a puddle by his feet.

~#~

"I guess I never asked, but how do you two even get dressed if you can't let go of each other?" Dougie whispered in Tom's ear as they approached the area with posters of the films they would choose from. "What about when ___nature calls_?"

"We can alternate our linked hands, that's all I'm saying. I swear I'm never having a kid like you," the blond singer rolled his eyes. "Now, be a good boy and go buy us our tickets."

"Yes, mum," he teased, scampering like a toddler to get in line.

"He seems even more energetic today."

"You're telling me? I'm almost begging for the sun to come up on the sky!" He and Danny laughed at his own comment, a bit of the uneasiness over them wearing out.

They shared a look for a prolonged moment, laughter slowly dying out until they fell silent, only staring at each other's eyes. Silence was deafening, though the place was far for being quiet, bustling with friends, families and couples seeking some entertainment to fulfil their nights.

"Sorry for earlier," Danny stated, breaking eye contact. "I guess this is a bit too much for me."

"Just don't forget that I'm here for you," Tom squeezed his hand. "Whenever you want to talk, I'll be there. Literally, we're stuck, right?" he chuckled.

"Mum! Dad! I got our tickets!" Dougie's voice could be heard not from afar, arms raised and flailing to signalise his position in the crowd. Tom sighed and Danny just laughed, saying that he was "_definitely the dad"_.

~#~

"I'm starting to think the whole point of this was you being able to see me naked!" Harry all but snarled –though his menacing tone seemed to be completely overlooked–, covering himself with his hands.

"How can you say that? I'm not a pervert," the blond pouted, strutting closer to his equally naked mate. "Let's jump, Haz."

The drummer took another glance at the body of water far bellow them and took a step back, colliding with something scaly behind him. "Zukie, plea–"

Next second he was on free fall with Dougie clinging to his body in the same way a sloth would to a branch. Soon, all his senses could perceive was water, and panic took over Harry when Dougie pulled him to the bottom, when he clearly needed to surface and breathe.

"_I'm going to die, you moron,"_ he tried to shook the boy off of him. _"Let me go!"_

Naturally, his words were all to waste because of how fast sound travels in water and all he did was lose his breath faster and speed up his death considerably. Never in a billion years he thought this Dougie would want him dead, but maybe he wasn't that different from his band mate.

"Would you relax and stop struggling? You're not dying," Dougie spoke and for some reason harry could hear him rather clearly. "Come here," he pulled the muscular boy close, sealing their mouths together and breathing some air into him.

Harry's brain ceased functioning: Dougie just have kissed him and, as strange and cheesy as it may sound, _breathed life_ back into him. Now he could actually breathe underwater and hear the words spoken. What was even happening?

"You're talking to the King, kiddo," Dougie smirked, feeling proud of himself. "There's a sunken galley ahead, feel like treasure hunting?"

"Only if you keep your _mouth_ to yourself," he folded his arms over his naked chest.

"I did _not_ kiss you, and you're going to _want _a kiss from me one day!" a tongue stuck in the air –or water, really– served to punctuate the end of their discussion, as blond hair swayed around in the water. Harry still felt a bit annoyed, but thoughtlessly brought his hand to his lips, swimming after Dougie in the direction of the sunken galley.

~#~

"This is one of those seats for couples," Tom stated the obvious, and he didn't sound too thrilled. Maybe sending Dougie to save good seats for him and Danny wasn't the best idea he ever had.

"Pretty much," Dougie shrugged, shoving his hand inside the popcorn bucket. "Are you two sitting or not? Everybody already thinks you're together, holding hands and shit, anyway."

Tom glared at his bassist but turned to look at Danny for help. The freckled boy just shrugged and pointed out that Dougie had paid. Not only that, but they were also running on stress for two days with the dream catcher madness.

"It's okay with me, if you okay with it."

"Okay, Dan," he smiled. "Just remember to get back to him when he's passed out in the morning," he whispered the last part, the proximity of his lips making Danny's skin tingle a bit.

The film they picked turned out to be interesting –thankfully–, but after the first two hours, Danny started falling asleep, his head bobbing sideways and waking him from the sudden movement. He tried his best to keep on focused on the giant screen, only that his body had other plans, and maybe it was the tension leaving his body and finally allowing tiredness overpower him.

"Tired?" a soft chuckle came from his side, brown eyes looking at him with an amused expression.

"Sorta. Didn't get me much sleep last night," he confessed in a whisper, rubbing his eyes.

"We still have an hour and a half to go. Do you wanna..." Tom trailed off, tilting his head to point to his own shoulder.

"I'm fine, I'm not–" a yawn denounced him, making Tom chuckle again. "Won't that be weird?"

"Name one thing not weird that happened to us this week, Dan."

"Point taken," he grinned back.

Tom lifted the armrest between their seats allowing Danny to shuffle closer to him and put his head against his shoulder. They also switched hands to get into a more comfortable position, unsuspecting of Dougie secretly spying on them with a very pleased smile plastered on his face.


	15. Unspoken Truths

_Disclaimer: I owned them once. It was a good dream.  
_

_A/N: I hope to focus more on Pudd after things go back to normal; it almost looked like a Flones story when it's really not! Ugh, I'm the worst at these things! A would also like to apologise because I don't think I ever put an explicit warning about swearing on any of my stories, and they seem to have quite a bit. Sorry, my bad!_

_**xxPUDDxx** That's the least I can do when you're always taking time to leave feedback, when not many people do so. I really appreciate that, thank you! :D_

_I'm pretty happy about seeing new people writing! May this be a sign that we can grow in number and have some active life going on in this tag! *internal screaming*_

Chapter XV

The sun shone brightly in the sky, its warmth radiating into Harry's body as he sat on the rocks by the cascade, appreciating the spectacle of colourful fish swirling around his submersed foot. On his right hand he had a golden coin that Dougie found on their trip around the sunken galley, something gave to him as _"a souvenir and token of a good king's work"._

"_What do I do with you?" _he thought to himself, chuckling as he wrapped his hand around the metallic object.

"Do what to whom?"

Apparently, Harry was either a loud thinker, or Dougie was capable of reading minds, because he certainly overheard the brunet speaking, appearing upside-down hanging from a vine of a tree high above the rocky wall. You could either blame the proximity of their faces or the suddenness of Dougie's actions, but the truth was he successfully scared Harry, who slipped right into the lake.

"Will you stop _sprouting_ from fucking nowhere?" He coughed some water he swallowed, accepting the offer of a open hand to get him out of water.

"It's not my fault that you're always daydreaming," Dougie slid down the vine, landing on a squatting position. He dismissed Harry's glaring at him with a shrug, lying eagle-spread to bathe on the sunlight. "Let's enjoy this sun and get a tan," he erratically patted everywhere beside him.

"You're too laid back," the drummer shot back, shaking his head.

Despite his initial disapproval, Harry complied, assuming similar position, their fingers almost brushing from such proximity. Since he had his eyes closed, all his senses seemed to awaken to a new level, giving him a whole spectrum of sensations to choose from. There was the rocky ground – cold from water– under their backs, the water splashing lightly their faces, being swept by the wind; the sound of flapping winds above, indicating that Zukie was nearby, and finally, but not less important, Dougie's presence by his side, urging his skin to reach out and touch the blond, to feel the slightly smaller hand in his.

A right hand started roaming –ever so slowly– the stony surface, seeking for human touch. Harry swallowed hard not fully comprehending what his limb was doing, seemingly with a mind of its own. When his little finger finally made contact with Dougie's skin, he quickly retread it.

"_Even if it's a dream, this is wrong, Judd!"_ Me mentally kicked himself in the balls. _"You know very well what happened the last time you tried something with a guy."_

"Your thoughts are too loud," Dougie grunted, taking hold of the brunet's hand, rubbing his thumb along it. He said nothing else, and for that Harry was grateful, just closing his hand and for the first time enjoying their tanning session.

~#~

Night went by as peaceful as you can get when living with a Dougie with half a day worthy of energy to spend. After having his ideas rejected, the trio came back home to get some much needed rest; Danny was still drowsy for his nap during the film.

"Need help carrying Harry back to his room, mate?"

"I don't think you can even carry yourself to bed, Dan," the bassist grinned. "It's fine, I'll just put his film collection to good use again."

"I don't think Harry has porn on him," the singers laughed at Dougie's expense.

"Then we're off. See you at night, Dougs," Tom hugged him, Danny doing the same. They took the stairs to get ready for a good night of sleep.

Their efficiency on working as different hands on a same task had improved significantly. Things like taking a shower or brushing teeth weren't a problem for them any more – at least nothing near their disastrous morning experience –, and soon they were done with their mission. Tom had just pulled his Ghostbusters pyjama on, when a thought came to him.

"Where are we sleeping?" He asked Danny over his shoulder. "We won't fit in a single bed together."

Danny was a bit too busy adjusting himself inside his boxers to pay proper attention to what the brown-eyed boy asked, but once finished, he looked up with a face scrunched up in thought. "We could just... sleep on the floor?" his tone was unsure, and it seemed like he was expecting for Tom's verdict.

"Not a bad idea, actually," Tom mused. Sometimes Danny had his moments of brilliance, and that's what made him an interesting person and generally cool. "Let's get your things and make a futon," he smiled back in response, leading the other guitarist out the bathroom.

~#~

"What in the bloody hell– "

Dougie entered his room and witnessed glowing in his bed. It didn't look like his band mate was awake, though he could say that was the most lively he ever saw Harry be, answering his call in life to be a fucking _light party_.

"Judd, wake up," he slapped the drummer repeatedly on the face. "Don't you give me this Twilight fuckery, you dickhead!"

The glow seemed to fade and Dougie poked Harry more two or three times to make sure he was still sleeping, turning to search for a towel among his belongings. Since Tom and Danny would probably take some time in the bathroom, using Harry's was a viable option (and he would never know, anyway).

"Maybe I'll replace your shampoo with paint or something," he smirked gleefully, locking the door behind him.

Although it was a bit cramped in there, Dougie had no problem finishing his bath, singing some of the tunes they would have on their first album, being extra careful not to sing too loud, as the other two should already be sleeping. _"If they're planning or sleeping," _his naughty mind added, making him chuckle.

"Oh," he breathed when finished. He had forgotten to fetch his towel and Harry surely wouldn't bring it to him. Not even if he were awake. "I'll regret this in the morning," Dougie frowned, taking a hold of Harry's towel and start drying himself.

Much for his surprise, the piece not only looked clean, but it also smelt good. _Very_ good. He could smell faintly traces of a cologne that he had recognised as the same as teenager Harry wore on their time together. Maybe he was a bit high on sugar, or all that voodoo crap had started to get to him, but Dougie buried his face in the towel and inhaled deeply the pleasant smell from his memories.

"And now you're scaring me, Poynter," he slapped himself hard. "Don't even start to confuse Haz with that prick in you room, they're not the same!"

~#~

A wet lick from Zukie's rough tongue stopped Harry from dozing off completely, making him sit in one swift motion. Dougie wasn't by his side any more, but he didn't go that far, resting on the branch of a tree, watching the drummer muscular nude form on the rocks.

"You know that's creepy, right?" He threw a pebble on his personal peeping Tom in disapproval. "Dougs?"

The brunet walked as fast he could on wet rocks to get to where Dougie had fallen from the tree with a dull thud. He knew he didn't used much force, not enough to get the boy down like a bird. Hell, he didn't even properly aimed at him, how could that even be?

"Dougie, you okay?" His hands tried to locate any bruise beneath the blond hair, eyes scanning for any blood gushing out. "Speak to me, idiot!"

"Could that be... concern of your part? Maybe you don't hate me after all," a blue eye flew open followed by laughter.

"Wanker!" Harry shoved him. "Don't scare me like that!"

"Don't be mad, Haz," Dougie threw the now clean clothes back to Harry. "I could watch you naked _all day long_, but we still have things to do."

His smirk told Harry that maybe it would be better if he just stayed away from the boy; his sense of humour was just _wrong,_ although he seemed to be genuinely good at heart, mischievous for sure, but definitely not evil.

~#~

"Still awake?" Tom rose his head from his pillow to look at Danny staring at the ceiling. Their sleeping positions turned to be a problem, as Danny usually sleeps on his back and Tom does the opposite, sleeping on his belly.

"I guess I wasn't that tired," he replied tiredly. His body craved for some sleep, but his mind decided that wasn't happening for the the past hour or so.

"If you're not comfortable I can grab some more covers and– "

"I'm fine, Tom. Really," a forced smile took over his freckled features. "Just try to get some sleep yourself, 'kay?"

Silence returned to the room, thicker than before, allowing Dan to dwell further in his thoughts. He had long decided that he wasn't mad at Tom by any means –what wouldn't be surprising–, trying just to forget what happened and bury it in the very depths of his brain until he couldn't remember it at the slightest.

"That's bollocks!" A lamp flashed after a loud clicking sound, temporarily blinding Danny. Tom was now hovering above him, looking rather worried, despite the funny look his bed hair, messy in all directions, gave him.

"Tom–"

"No, you're going to listen to me now," brown eyes flashed authoritative, hushing Danny with the help of a hand motion. "You've been acting weird around me, and seems like I did something that got you upset, which I can't even think of. Can't you trust me enough to tell me what's going?"

"You kissed me! Ya kissed me like it was nothing to you and you didn't even realise what you've done! Happy now?" There, he finally said. Not the nicest way to break such news to your supposed best mate – especially when you hiss the last part through gritted teeth, but at least he got everything out of his chest, suddenly makes it easier to breathe.

Tom flinched at those words and covered his mouth with a trembling hand. He and Danny– no, that couldn't be. That _wouldn't_ be. They shared a special bond and Dougie would always tease them about their closeness, but that was it, nothing more.

"When?" Tom's voice came small and ashamed.

"First time Harry blacked out," Danny sighed. This time there was no annoyance in his voice; he just sounded tired, relieved, or something in-between.

"Look, I didn't and I don't want to jeopardise our friendship in any way. I'm sorry for my unacceptable behaviour and I swear this won't happen again."

"That sounded professional. Then you're not trying to make a move on me?" The question sounded a bit foolish, but Tom bit his tongue and kept a straight face as he shook his head in response.

"What we need now is a bit of sleep, Dan." The blond singer chuckled, feeling a bit calmer. "And nobody said that we can't be close without having to snog each other."

Laughter replaced the tension over them and they talked about what each expected from their last day under that mysterious spell, that until sleep hit them harder and eyelids could no longer be kept open. Still, the issue with their sleeping positions was still at hand, or even better, at their hands.

"We could spoon?" Tom blinked in disbelief, eyeing Danny beside him. "That sounded strange, yeah?"

"Yeah, but maybe it could be easier." A yawn made him blink more lazily this time. "I'm too tired do discuss anything, just don't try anything funny."

"Don't get cocky, Fletcher."

Tom then rolled in Danny's direction, making sure the brunet's arm fitted the gap between their 'beds' so he would wake up with a dead limb. The position seemed comfortable enough for both, and after saying their goodnights, Danny turned the lamp closer to Tom's side off and returned his head to his pillow, at last ready for a good night of sleep, although his heart still seemed a bit restless for unknown reasons.

~#~

"I'm starting to think you're really a king!" Harry yelled, watching the view far below them. He didn't know how Dougie always talked him in doing these things, but for once he was glad for his own gullibility.

"Admit it, you just wanted a chance to hug my waist!" Dougie yelled back, using the reins in his hand to make Zukie soar through the sky a bit more faster. "Better hold on a bit tighter!"

"You're the one who told me to hold– forget it!"

"Kinda hard when you're groping me like this," the lizard tamer laughed back, earning himself a painful pinch in the bum. Their flight would continue for some more hours, until the sun rose again in the real world.


	16. Erase and Rewind

_Disclaimer: I like lions but you don't see me owning any, do you? Same goes for them._

_A/N: This got delayed a bit because of the perviness going on on "Who's a Good Boy?"._

**xxPUDDxx**_ Oh my gosh... Thank you! :) I think you should totally do it! You don't have to be a JK Rowling or anything; you can only get better with practice (that's why I didn't stop after my first story *cringes a bit*). ;)_

_ I would love to read something of yours (and even help, if you so need)! :D_

_Wow, today I found out there's a **lot** of M rated stuff in the JML archive. This fandom is mainly composed of mini-Dougies (a bunch of pervy people), I swear! Hahaha!_

Chapter XVI

"Thank you for flying with Zukie Airlines. Have a nice day!"

"Why do I even find it funny?" Harry rolled his eyes, climbing down the giant lizard's neck. By now he already got –more or less– used to Dougie and his shenanigans; everything seemed to be folder for a new joke, or a cheeky remark.

"Oi! At least show a bit of gratitude, you fit git!" The blonde pouted, still feeding his pet a mix of fruits and seeds, which seemed to pleases him much.

A subtle burst of courage ignited inside Harry and the next second he was toe-to-toe with Dougie, grabbing his face on both sides and connecting their lips with a chaste kiss that lingered enough for their brains to register the moment.

"Thank you," the drummer smirked, pleased with himself as Dougie stood there, gaping at him with his small eyes wide in astonishment.

"You– you kissed me!"

"No, that was a 'thank you' for saving my life earlier. Now we're even."

"I have created a monster, Zukie," the boy shook his head, though his lips were curved in an accusing smile.

~#~

Tom was starting to love mornings more ever since Dougie started to take his prolonged naps and didn't have the time to _actually_ prank him any more. It may sound a bit harsh, but sometimes the youngest member proved to be a handful, and the brown-eyed boy often got himself remaking his plans for a complete life, excluding the 'having a kid' part and sticking to just 'writing a book' and 'planting a tree'.

"I swear that I'm going to shave your hair for charity when I get down from here," he hissed and glared at Dougie.

For some strange reason Danny wasn't nowhere to be found, and Harry was probably sleeping since Dougie was still up, which meant there's no one to come and rescue him. His predicament –if you so want to call it that– consisted of himself being hung on the ceiling like a piñata, a rope tied tightly around his arms, barely leaving his hands capable of some free movement.

"Are you even listening to me? Get me down, Douglas!"

The bassist seemed to ignore his plea and started poking Tom in the butt with a broomstick. Why he would be doing that? Well, Tom didn't have a clue either, but he most certainly was going to face some time in prison for murder, if he ever got free from those ropes.

Finally, he could grab the stick poking his bottom, making Dougie speak for the first time, only that his voice sounded different. Very different and sleepy.

"Tom, what ya doing?"

The singer opened his eyes to see Danny's freckled arms thrown around him, in a tight embrace. They were still in bed and Dougie and his ropes nowhere to be found. And for the stick... well, that was not _quite_ what was poking him.

The blond yelped releasing his hold on Danny, stumbling after a disastrous attempt to get up from their bed, and landing a headdbutt on the nearest wall. His world was just pain and embarrassment and he pitied the fact he didn't hit his head hard enough to lose conscience.

"Tom!" Danny walked to over to check on his clumsy friend. He was relieved to see the skin wasn't broken, but knew the red area would swell like an _eggplant,_ later.

"Are you planning on demolishing the house, Dan?" Harry's head piped in from behind the door. "Unless you are really happy to see me, I maybe caught you doing something private?"

Danny looked down and covered himself with a cushion. "Belt up, Harry!" He said in his defence, feeling like it couldn't possibly get more embarrassing.

"I'll be preparing us breakfast downstairs. Tell Tom I said that."

And Harry left without acknowledging his other friend on the floor. Danny regarded that as they not touching each other, but taking care of Tom came first, and he didn't get a concrete response besides groans and a bit of cursing. Picking up his band mate in his arms, the freckled boy put him back in bed, leaving the room to fetch an ice cube wrapped in one of his own shirts.

"That should help a bit," he placed the ice on Tom's forehead, chuckling when the other boy flinched at the cold sensation against his skin.

"Thanks, Dan," Tom attempted a smile, but flinched again because of the ice. "Sorry for grabbing your– _you_, I had a strange dream with Dougie and tried to get him to stop poking my bum."

"Turned out it wasn't really him, eh?"

The boys laughed for some time, momentarily forgetting about the awkwardness from earlier. Danny also apologised to Tom for hogging him in his sleep, and that he would try not to let _the mornings_ affect him like that for the time they would spend together, this way avoiding any more uneasiness.

They shared a moment of semi-silence, just chuckling, when Tom decided to speak again and switch subjects to something less heavy –and uncomfortable– for both of them.

"We're not glued any more," he said, biting the inside of his cheek in apprehension. What was that about changing subjects to something else? Seemed like his objectives and actions weren't really lined up.

Danny nodded. "Yeah, I noticed it. It didn't seem like Harry could see you."

"I guess I'm not visible to him yet."

"I– You know I don't mind being with you, right? Maybe we will be stuck again if you give me your hand, but at least you'll be able to be seen and heard."

"Are you sure? I don't want to force myself upon you, Danny."

"What are mates for?" He extended his large hand in front of Tom. It seemed like the other singer would accept it, but then he looked down, got up and ran through the door, leaving Danny confused.

~#~

"Dougs?" A distant voice called him. It wasn't terribly familiar, but sounded like someone Dougie already knew, though he wasn't sure who would that be. "Dougs, wake up!"

"Harry?" Dougie yawned and rubbed his eyes to chase drowsiness away faster.

The sight of the little kid in front of him was a bit unsettling, considering he had been with an older –and "_overly flirty"_, may he add– Harry just the day before, but contently hugged back when tiny arms wrapped themselves around his neck.

"I thought you had died!" the boy sniffled against his neck, trying not to cry, but Dougie could feel warm tears falling on his shirt.

"Hey, mate! Don't cry, I'm completely fine, see?" he kissed atop the head of his little friend, wiping the wetness form the small blue eyes "What do you want to do today?"

"I want to go to a theme park!" Harry eyes shimmered with the excitement we would find in a boy his age, face lit up in with a huge grin.

"Hop on and lead the way, my good sir," Dougie got down a knee, allowing Harry to climb his back.

They sped up down a street mostly comprised of yellow building and houses, although the sky was now its original blue, as well as some of the constructions in the way. Dougie hadn't paid attention before when older Harry did nothing but drag him everywhere, but now that he thought about it, he couldn't possibly keep quiet.

"Where are the people in this town, little dude?"

"I don't know," he saw the brunet shook his head. "I think–"

His thought process got interrupted by his own ear-splitting shriek. Dougie immediately put him down, checking for whatever happened or if he was hurt somewhere, but Harry just pointed to a vast area where a roller coaster could be seen at distance, along with some other fun machines.

If the repetitive thugs at his trousers were enough of clue, the bassist took the boy's hand in his and they crossed the street towards their destination. Harry would give small leaps every now and then, completely oblivious to how nervous his adult companion felt: Dougie _hated_ heights.

~#~

"And Dougie?"

"Sleeping in my bed, I suppose. I woke up in his room," Harry munched his toast as he finished cutting a bunch of natural sandwiches, a healthy meal worthy of a king on table with fruits, cereal and juice.

"That's some change, it's the first time you talk about him without a snigger or something," Danny smiled. "Getting close you two?"

"Seems like you two want to starve today," the drummer rolled his eyes at Danny.

The pair just dismissed it with a laugh and took theirs seats to start filling their empty stomachs.

"Today's going to be a busy day," Tom lifted his fork to stab a banana, putting the fruit on Danny's plate. He would be happy with all the other fruits, except for that one, everything about bananas was wrong. Including the embarrassment of making eye-contact with someone whilst eating one.

"Wish I were the one sleeping during the day." Harry sighed. "I bet Poynter does nothing but play around all night."

~#~

"That was sooooooo cool!" little Harry chimed, still enthusiastic as he had been when they first walked into the park.

"Good for you, little dude," Dougie ruffled his hair, earning a few giggles in response. _"I'm never going on that __**thing**__ again!"_

He wouldn't exactly put it as a bad experience, but Dougie had never been one for heights, ever since he was just a toddler. The very thought of looking down from somewhere a good ten feet tall made his stomach drop as low as his toes, so it's safe to say that he dislikes heights to the point it turns into genuine _hate_.

But how he could tell any of that to Harry? The boy looked just so happy and he would feel like a heartless monster for taking the joy from the kid's face; he loved him so much at this point for that.

"You're happy," the boy beamed by his side. "I like you happy!"

"That's because I have my best buddy in the whole world with me," his hands started tickling the boy mercilessly, the small body trying –in vain– to wriggle its way out of the cruel punishment.

"You're mean, Dougie!"

"But we're still friends, right?" The older boy pouted, smiling when Harry just nodded.

They stayed for some more time sitting on the bench, stuffing their faces with candyfloss. The breeze blowing in their direction carried bubbles from a huge fountain near the carousel, filling the air with a suave aroma of mint and strawberry. In that moment Dougie knew he would miss hanging out with his little friend the moment all 'voodoo-magic' was finally gone and they got their lives as a normal band back.

"Haz, why do you changed back into a kid?" Dougie threw the stick lathered with sugar in the bin. "I'm not complaining, I just find it weird."

"Huh? Kids don't grow up in a day, silly,"

"_A day? Does that mean he's not–"_

"Dodgems!" Harry leapt and scampered ahead. Leaving his elder to the task of chasing him around and try to comprehend what all that meant.

~#~

Rehearsals went as fine as a Swiss clock, everything working smoothly and one more song being written in-between the breaks. If even possible, they seemed to be more attuned to each other and mistakes were non-existent in this session that Tom called "a blessed one".

"For a band working always on ¾ of capacity, we're really progressing fast," Tom smiled. "I mean, we have two guitarists working as one and a drummer! Talk about surpassing limits!"

"Maybe we don't _really_ need a bassist after all?" Tom cast his guitar pick at Harry for his snide remark.

"Harry's sounding even better, too! I would say he's... _banging!_" Danny wriggled his eyebrows at Tom and started laughing at his own joke.

"Oh God." the blond brought his free hand to his face. "Please, say you didn't just make that awful joke!" He could hear Harry actually laughing from his drum kit.

Things seemed to be slowly returning to normal, and the bond between strengthening rather fast. Harry wouldn't admit it –not even to himself, but he often caught himself thinking of Dougie –not the one sleeping upstairs, mind you– and that scared him. He was scared of everything it would imply, and everything it _could_ be.


	17. A Brother's Duty

_Disclaimer: I'm not making any money of it. Just tears and feelings!_

_A/N: It pains me to say it, but we're getting near the end! Next chapter will probably bring some answers to old answers and we'll be slowly walking towards the final chapter._

**_xxPUDDxx_**_ Glad to hear that! He's a bit of an arse but has a big heart, I think! ;) Hahaha! But you always get more than one reader, only that 90% of them are 'shadow readers' (__**greenpeanutbutterzebras98**__ I totally stole that from you) and you'll never even know who they are. :O_

_This one goes for __**deeplyinloves**__ for putting me in a good mood with her amazing Flones story! I wasn't thinking of writing anything today, but you proved me wrong! :D_

Chapter XVII

Tom ended his conversation on the phone with Jake, grasping his phone tight and looking at his brunet friends with a apprehensive look. The boys just stared back quietly, waiting for an answer, but silence proved to be much to bear, and in the next instant Danny was on his face asking _"what he said"_ over and over again.

"Seeing as I'm not on my best form," he pointed to his own forehead, "I convinced Jake to leave us out of any possible interviews or small gigs this week."

"Perfect, it's just the time we need to get this bullshit undone and return to normal life!" Harry cheered excitedly, pumping his fist in the air briefly. No one wanted their nightmare to end as badly as him, or so he thought.

"That's brill, Tommy! Now we can just focus on our writing!" Danny beamed at his friend. He had a bit of admiration for all his friends, but Tom was probably the one he felt more proud of. The quick thinking, his way to form a plan in times of need, his talent; there was nothing about Tom that wasn't inspirational.

"You don't look too relieved, mate," Harry pointed out. "What's the catch?"

"Jake's coming this afternoon to see how Dougie's doing," Tom swallowed hard, watching his band mates mutter a _"fuck"_ in unison.

~#~

"How's everything going?"

"Good, we're actually getting along better than ever," Tom and Danny sat across the coffee table from Jake.

Both could tell the manager kept stealing glances at their hands, but the man said nothing, and they decided to just ignore it in the best possible way. Luckily, Harry was back with a tray with mugs of tea for any of them, and a few mini toast snacks with Marmite on them.

"I'll take just the tea, buddy," Jake shook his head, laughing when Harry just shrugged and muttered a _"more for me"_. "And Dougie, is he feeling any better?"

"Dougie's sleeping because someone cast a spell on him and now he's only awake at night," Danny sipped from his tea.

Harry started choking furiously on his food and Tom had his eyes so wide that his orbs would probably pop out at any second. What in the actual hell was Danny thinking? They only had to keep quiet for more two days, and he just blabbed their secret to Jake so blatantly?

The room fell silently –except for Harry's coughing–, Danny calmly sipping from his mug, Jake looking at him like he had sprouted a second head, and Tom petrified on the spot. The blond was about to say something to try and clear up things, when the American man started guffawing, surprising him and Harry.

"I didn't knew you were one for jokes, Danny," he wiped a tear from his eye, sitting his mug on the coffee table. "That was a good one!"

"It's good to have more than one talent," the curly-haired boy winked at his mates. "He had to go sort some personal stuff but he should be back by the weekend."

"Just tell him to warn me _before_ actually leaving next time, okay?"

"Sir, yes, sir!" Danny saluted, this time all the other two laughing with him.

~#~

Harry was snoring lightly against Dougie's ribcage, drained from the energy he radiated when they first got to the park. The older boy just chuckled, watching the little figure sprawled over the bench, his tiny shoulders rising up and going down with every single breath he took.

"_If only you didn't have to grow up into a jerk, we would get along well," _he thought, petting the little brunet's head. _"Although older you wasn't too bad, either. Makes me wonder what happened to Judd to make him so... __**Judd**__."_

Draping an arm protectively around little Harry, Dougie let his head dip backwards, taking a good look at the sky above them. Things have changed so much since he first met his little mate, going from trying desperately to find a way out, to just having mindless fun like a bunch of kids; it was like having a little brother.

However, older Harry was another story. He was assertive, flirty and sometimes a bit of the cocky arse he would inevitably grow up to be. 'Uncomfortable' not quite could describe how Dougie felt about the other boy, they spending the whole day together and everything, but there was this feeling of _uneasiness_ inside him that always made his mind replay always the same words.

_"Just take a moment to realise that the only problem you pointed out was our age gap, not that I'm a boy or that you don't like me," _he could hear a voice that wasn't his speak in his mind. "I don't need more shit to deal with," Dougie scoffed. Suddenly, his eyelids were too heavy and he slowly drifted away much like the child beside him.

~#~

"That plan was so ludicrous that it actually worked?"

"Eh, I don't know about that big word, but yeah," Danny laughed, imagining that Tom was probably complimenting his idea.

"I still can't believe he bought that," Harry spoke thoughtfully. "But it is too ridiculous to buy such story as true, I reckon. I know I wouldn't."

"And you didn't have to lie about Dougie being out _"to sort some stuff"_," Tom nodded as if immensely proud of Danny. "I should just leave all the brainy stuff to you."

"Now, don't you make anything that could compromise the band's future, Tom," Harry smirked.

If telling everybody your secret were the best (and only) way to keep it, Danny surely had nailed it this time. Jake thought nothing serious of his 'joke' and now they could just lead their lives as normally as they possibly could, that till Friday arrived bringing their so deserved peace.

Since Harry got to work more than Dougie in the last days, Tom had the idea of inverting their sleeping schedule: he would stay awake and work on songs with Dougie and Danny till very late, and the next Day Harry would be free to have some time for himself. None of his band mates protested against it, and an accord was sealed by unanimity.

"I'm going to bed," Harry stretched languidly, watching the skies darken steadily. "I have no intention on blacking out on the floor," he waved a rather early goodnight and made his way upstairs.

~#~

Dougie woke up to the surroundings of Harry's room, snuggled up to a good smelling blanket that he knew wasn't his. Getting up from bed and walking to the bathroom, he noticed for the first time a post-it note glued to his forehead with a passive-agressive message.

_Touch my stuff one more time and I will kill you in your sleep. :)_

_Harold_

"The fucker even used a smiley face," Dougie snorted, crumbling the paper in a small ball and discarding it in the bin. "I think somebody deserves another make over," he smirked to himself, getting ready for a bath, this time remembering to bring his own towel; using Harry's was an emergency-only kind of thing.

The doors connecting his and Harry's rooms to the tiny bathroom proved rather useful, enabling Dougie to go back and forth easily. Rummaging quickly for some clean clothes, he grabbed a few pieces of his liking before turning to see Harry asleep in his bed.

"Wow," the bassist breathed, getting a bit more closer. He never had paid attention before –not that he should–, but Harry's body was impressive. Even more when he's sprawled in just black boxers under the moonlight coming through your window.

The pale light made the brunet's abs ripple, arm casting a shadow over his eyes, as it fell over his head draping over part of his forehead. To be fair, it looked like Harry had jumped off one of those oversexualised underwear ads and Dougie felt the urge to slap him for doing such a thing in a room that wasn't even his.

"You don't get to look hot in my room, Judd. Just wait till I'm finished!" Dougie turned on his heels and disappeared back into the bathroom. "Wait a minute, did I just say Judd looks hot? God, no!" he shuddered, making a disgusted face and slamming the door closed.

~#~

"Harry!"

"Who's–"

And that's basically how Harry found himself being tackled to the ground by a fucking Komodo Dragon. Or so he thought, before recognising the small happy face of Dougie sitting on his chest, giggling like a schoolboy –which he probably was– at Harry's shocked expression.

"Dougs? You're a kid again– Why is that you're always falling on me?" Harry tried to move his upper body into a sitting position, since his legs were immobilised under Zukie's weight.

"But I just got here!" The little boy scratched his head.

"Forget it, Dougs," Harry hugged him, feeling the giggles sounds against his chest. "Zukie, move over, please?" The lizard seemed a bit angry but obliged and moved aside. He seemed happier when Harry petted his head, though.

Dougie seemed terrifically excited about something, and it took Harry a few good minutes to understand what he was saying, but they were going to a circus. That part was clear in the youngster's speech and he grabbed the drummer's hand to guide them on the way to their destination.

"Whoa, no need to hurry, I don't think they will run away," Harry laughed, even though his statement had fallen into deaf ears due to enthusiasm.

~#~

"So, Jake knows everything, thinks it's a joke and now all we do is wait for the voodoo die out?"

"Don't call it _'voodoo'_, better not be disrespectful to other people's magic," Tom reproachful tone made Dougie slump back in his chair with a blue bass over his lap.

"Whatever, _Mum!_" the younger blond rolled his blue eyes. "What happened to your forehead, anyway? A _wild_ night?"

"Why do you always have to go there? Your mind isn't _in_ the gutter, it _is_ the whole gutter." It was Tom's turn to roll his eyes. "I ran into a wall this morning," he admitted, blushing a bit.

"Are we finished, yet? M'sleepy," Danny yawned, resting his head on Tom's shoulder. The clock in their studio wall accused it to be past 1AM.

"Let's go to bed, Dan," Tom chuckled running a hand affectionately through Danny's curls. "Just don't drool on me!"

Dougie's mouth hanged open for some time at such scene. In fact, his mouth was open long enough for at least half a dozen flies get in. "Did I miss something? Are you two–"

"No to both your questions," Tom lift an threatening finger to Dougie. They were sitting apart but it didn't make the gesture any less scary; you don't really want to see a serious Tom. "We found out that we can be close friends without worrying about getting in each other's pants or anything."

"Some deep shit realisation! Is that what they say about personal growth?" the bassist asked in wonder. "Or maybe you're just gay for each other and hadn't realise it."

"You–"

"Tommy, please," Danny nearly whined, making Tom stop before he could fall for Dougie's taunt. Both bid the other boy goodnight, but not without Tom that 'v' sign in front of his eyes that meant _"I'll keep my eyes on you"_ to Dougie before closing the door.

"Wasn't that a bit amusing?" He clucked, going back to strumming random chords on his bass.

~#~

Were you take into account that there was absolutely no one in said circus, things went pretty well. The spectacle was limited due to the lack of people, but the animals always seemed to know what they were doing, and a new stage would surface from the ground, replacing the precious one, with everything needed for the following performance.

Acrobat monkeys, lions jumping fire hoops, seals being generally retarded –probably in the role of clowns– , elephants balancing themselves on fragile looking planks of wood, dolphins making synchronised swimming, all elements were present, except for a single human soul.

"I don't like clowns," little Dougie whispered into Harry's ear. "They're scary."

"Want to know a secret?" to which the kid nodded enthusiastically. "I don't like them, too." He confessed, satisfied when giggles reached his ear. It was so easy to get Dougie to laugh. He wouldn't even recognise him as the boy crying his eyes out when they first met.

The lights went out on the stage one more time, and this time a monkey with a bow tie and a top hat appeared. From his fancy way of dressing, Harry concluded he would be the magician, which was confirmed by doves flying from inside their simian entertainer.

"Look, Harry!" A bird landed on Dougie's tiny hands, but it exploded with a loud pop in a heap of colourful paper, scaring the boy.

"Oi! No blowing up animals, psycho!" He tried to calm Dougie down, at the same time casting a nasty look at the magician. Nobody would make his little mate cry. Not even a dressed up monkey.


	18. Song for a Friend

_Disclaimer: I'm not making any money of it. Just tears and feelings!_

_A/N: Chapter got too long and I had to split it in two, and now I'm getting even farther from my original goal. *angry boar noises* Or maybe I'll make the next one the grand finale, I don't know. I really want to end it with the 20__th__ chapter! :)_

**_xxPUDDxx_**_ I swear this story would have some real Flones if you all joined Dougie; there seem to be a lot of Flones shippers here! ;D Yeah, Danny can be surprisingly clever when needed. That's a reliable friend, indeed! Haha! It **is** a bit creepy, and I don't really understand why they wouldn't want to a bit more involved. :(_

_I'd like to thank everyone who stuck around for so long, it's been a fun ride to me! :D_

Chapter XVIII

"Dan," a long yawn followed. "What are you doing?"

"Watching you sleep. It's sorta funny," the freckled boy replied with a chuckle, moving his hand to flick Tom's nose and sparking a wrestling match with such gesture.

It was nice – and both were grateful for it – that they had returned to the beginnings of their friendship, being closer again without having to worry about misinterpretations or awkward silence. Tom tried his best to overpower Danny, but ended up being pinned to their makeshift futon after his friend said there was a whole on his Back to the Future pyjama, momentarily throwing him off his game.

"Cheater," he struggled against Danny's grip on both his wrists.

"Everything's game in war and love, or something like tha'," the brunet grinned. "What did I win?"

"I don't think that's quite how the saying goes," Tom countered. "And you won me not washing your back today."

It did seem to work, as Danny started telling him how that wasn't fair and he needed someone to help him take care of his huge back tattoo, but soon Tom realised that his idea backfired right in his face.

"Take it back or I'll give you a _cat bath_."

"You're not serious... are you?" Unless the overly long tongue approaching his face hadn't made it clear enough, yes, Danny was _dead serious_ about licking his face.

A more heated battle began, this time Tom had even more difficulty to fight back due to his fit of nervous laughter, a mix of sheer panic and disgust. Have you ever been on imminence of having you face licked by a huge tongue? Definitely not the most pleasant though to ever occur to one.

"Changed ya mind?"

"Get off, you twat!" The blond intended to sound threatening, but a strangled laugh denounced him.

"Believe me, I already _am_," and a wet muscle started poking Tom's dimple. When finally content with tormenting his friend, Danny rolled off of Tom in hysterics, brushing off a _"I hate you, Danny"_ with a kiss on the other singer's forehead.

~#~

The city buzzed with life, people going back and forth talking about things in a weird language that sounded awfully like gibberish to Dougie, but that wasn't the main issue. _"Where did that crowd come from?"_ he thought to himself watching a bunch of faceless –and nameless– somebodies walk down the street apparently in a hurry.

"Harry?" the vision of a young lad sitting in front of a library with his face buried into his knees made Dougie cross the street urgently, bumping in the many people, as he tried to cut a path to his desolated friend. "Mate, what's wrong?" He put a hand on the brunet's shoulder.

Blood-shot eyes looked up with a quick movement. A face trickled with tears showing off emotions ranging from disappointment to sadness made Dougie's stomach drop; Harry had been crying. No words came from the younger boy, as he launched himself against his friend's chest, burying his face and muffling any remaining tears or screams that he could be holding back.

"Shh, it's going to be fine," Dougie hugged tightly back, stroking the boy's neck continuously.

Finally, when he calmed down enough to elaborate coherent sentences, Harry found it in himself to tell Dougie what had happened: Mark's family paid his own family a visit and thing went sour when the supposed childhood friend told Harry's parents about their son being a _"sissy"_. Hell ensued as the boys started punching each other, their dads trying to stop the fight and the mums begging them all to stop.

"Nobody likes me, Dougs," he coughed, wiping his eyes.

"You don't say that ever again, you hear me?" Dougie held Harry's face in place, looking him in the eye. "You are a great guy and plenty of people like you. I know I do."

"Not the way I'd want you to, you don't," he wiped his nose this time.

"Just tell me where can I find this dickhead," Dougie said, although feeling a bit guilty for not being able to say anything back to Harry's previous statement.

~#~

"_A whole day for myself,"_ Harry smirked to the thought of not having to deal with anything that involved their band problems, going to buy a new film for his collection.

His search proved very bountiful as he snatched a few director's cut versions of different films, a collector's edition of a Disney film for Tom, a live performance of Bruce Springsteen for Danny, and –after some reluctance– the cheapest blink-182 documentary he could find for Dougie, so this way the blond would keep his paws off the drummer's collection.

"Need help, Harry?" a female voice came from behind him, sounding extremely friendly.

"Hi, Laura," he smiled at the blue-haired girl.

"It's _Lauren_, Harry," she rolled her eyes. "But at least you didn't forget my face, so thanks?"

"I would say I didn't forget your hair, but I reckon that your personality is one of a kind," he replied, both laughing a bit. Her work in the radio station didn't start before lunch, and that explained her shopping around so leisurely.

They talked for more a bit of time, till it was time for the cheery girl leave. She had told Harry, before leaving, that their interview had been a success, many people calling the radio station to know about the band with a cute couple and when they would come back to play something.

"I wonder how the 'couple' will react," a mischievous grin took over his face, as he headed back home to tell his mates the good news.

~#~

"Mark Acker?"

"That would be me. Who wants to know?"

Dougie's fist collided with the face of a boy his age, blond hair and slightly taller than him. Violence has never been the answer to anything, but that's what would make Dougie feel better, even for a fraction of time.

"_This bastard deserves it,"_ he thought, watching the Mark guy scramble away holding his chin. "You're never going anywhere near Harry again, understood?"

"You're that weirdo's boyfriend! Get away from me, I'm calling the cops!" the boy ran away with a bleeding nose.

"He needs real friends, not the like of you!" Dougie yelled after him, suddenly feeling his hand in severe pain from the punch he fired earlier. "It seems so easier in the films," he laughed nervously, jogging his way back to where Harry would be waiting.

Not much long after, he could see Harry in the same position as before, only that his eyes were now trained on the path Dougie were on, and a small smile played on his lips when the bassist made an 'Ok' sign to him.

"If his face is hurting as much as my hand, I don't think he'll cause you trouble ever again," Dougie beamed, plopping down by Harry's side.

"Did he hurt you? He's not the brawler type," an raised eyebrow questioned.

"Yeah, he _punched_ my fist with his _face,_ that jerk_. _It hurts!"

And that was the first time Harry had laughed since Dougie found him crying about his problem with his family and (supposed) friend. His eyes were still reddish, but the smile was back to his face and something warm inside Dougie's chest made him a bit happier.

"Want me to tend to you hand?"

The question was simple and straightforward, Dougie nodding in response without even thinking about it. What happened next, though, blew both their minds, Harry capturing his lips in a kiss, catching Dougie by surprise.

The blue-eyed brunet seemed to notice the shock from the other boy's part, taking advantage of it and slipping his tongue inside, deepening their kiss. It didn't look like Dougie was so surprised, though, after he started kissing back, feeling the pain in hand vanish.

~#~

"Who are you, again?" Tom looked up from his present to Harry standing in front of him. "I know you're only a true dick to Dougie, but that's something _really_ nice."

"Thanks, mate," Danny started screeching like a wild fangirl, holding his own present against his chest.

"Maybe I should take it back," the drummer rolled his eyes, but warmed up when he found himself in a group hug by the other two. "Stop, or I'll catch your _gayness_!" he chuckled, although hugging back his band mates.

The trio laughed, deciding to have a film marathon till it was time for Harry be asleep. They should make most of it, since it was their last day working on just ¾ of their capacity.

~#~

"You made me gay!"

"Like that would be even possible," Harry countered, his face still far into Dougie's personal space. "You wanted me to make the pain disappear, and I, for one, don't think it's still hurting. Am I wrong?"

"No, but– You can't just go around shoving your tongue down other people's throats like that!"

"You wanted help. I helped you. Period. No need to freak out, okay?"

Dougie felt like protesting further, but blue eyes began studying his face thoroughly, coming up with a big realisation: Dougie had enjoyed their kiss. A smug looking Harry then got a bit closer to whisper in his ear _"If you liked it so much, you can always ask for another one"_.

~#~

The jungle seemed to burst with more life than Harry could remember from his last visit. Flocks of birds flew across the sky, so many that sometimes you could mistake them for really fast clouds above. Howls, roar, and many other sounds could also be heard from deep inside the woods, indication that an encounter with ferocious animals would be way easier than before, though Harry didn't think there were other big animals there before, except for Zukie.

"Why can't it never be a day with rabbits or something?" The brunet exhaled in frustration.

"Because that would be boring, rabbits only eat, poop and do the _dirty_."

"Isn't that a description of yourself," Harry turned to greet Dougie with a smile, but his jaw dropped the minute he saw the other boy in nothing more than some _really_ tight shorts. Although he had seen his friend naked, it was still a surprise to seeing him in something so _revealing_.

"Not really, unless you want to _help_ me with the last bit," he replied, winking to add some extra discomfort and make Harry falter, which he succeeded. "Zukie needs your help, Hazza," his tone changed into a more sombre one.

The next instants were just Harry changing into a equally revealing piece as the one Dougie was wearing and running to a distant cave where the friendly lizard was resting. Zukie had been attacked by a venomous beast and now needed to have his foot cut off, something that Dougie couldn't perform alone, as it required two people to activate the clipper-like instrument he had.

"Hey, buddy," Harry crouched in front of the droopy eyes of the lizard, petting his head. "It's gonna be fine, I'll try my best to help you, stay strong for a bit more."

"Over here, Haz," Dougie waved. They positioned themselves on each side of the intricate machinery, paying attention to a pair of big crank handles. "Timing is everything, we should spin these till we hear the click and then let it go at the same time. It will make a clean cut and we can start taking care of his wound."

Harry nodded, swallowing a bit nervously. They were about to cut a massive leg off and it should be done in the right to save Zukie from any more pain. Dougie had assured him that his pet's regeneration skills would kick off after the medicine and soon he would have a new one limb replacing it.

"Ready?" Dougie received a nod as response and counted to three. Using all their strength the duo started operating the strange tool, letting go upon hearing a distinctive 'click', the cut-off member disappearing in ashes and covering them completely. "Now we get the medicine," a dirty-faced Dougie said and they ran outside the cave in search of healing herbs.


	19. Eclipse

_Disclaimer: I don't even own my soul, how could I own them?_

_A/N: You can tell that I __**really**__ need to finish this story as updates get more and more constant. BWAhaha! A lot of answers should come with the next chapter. If it gets too long, then I'll split it in two (otherwise, the next time will be the last time). :(_

_**xxPUDDxx **__Told you he's a good guy at core! ;) Thank you, hopefully it won't have a too shabby ending. Haha!_

Chapter XIX

Dougie was certain that it wasn't April's fool or anything, but he still couldn't believe his eyes when he picked a copy of an old documentary about his favourite band, blink-182, in his hands. He could swear Tom said _"Harry got you this"_ before handing him a little bag with said DVD in it, though that was as likely to happen as winning the lottery without a ticket.

"Come on, Dougs. That's the first nice thing he has ever done for you, be a bit grateful."

"And that's the part hard to believe, Tommo the homo," he scratched his head. "Anyway, I had some ideas for a song, I need you wankers to help me."

"Because tha' will convince us," Danny rolled his eyes and Tom nodded proudly. It seemed like they were picking some habits from each other.

"And now you're acting like an old married couple," Dougie snorted, shoving his notebook with some of lyrics into Tom's hands.

~#~

"I can't thank you enough for you help, Haz." Dougie smiled, watching Zukie much on some fruits and herbs. The giant pet still looked frail, but would certainly survive. "Thanks to you he's going to be brand new in a few days."

"I said it's fine. _"A friend in need is a friend indeed"_, remember?" the other boy smiled back, his arm looping around Dougie's shoulders.

"Let's wash this soot from ourselves, then," they were again on the run, roaming through plants and towards the lake they had been last time.

The scenario hadn't change much, except for now it had a dense cover of vines and leaves teeming down over the cascade, making a natural cave from plants only. Harry took his time to appreciate the splendid view, taking a deep breath and letting the aroma of wet ground assault his nostrils. It was a such a pity that would never again be able to come back to see any of that, but he would appreciate having his life back to normal.

"Dougie!" He called out for his friend already penetrating the green curtain. "I–"

"Get clean first, talk later, _Judd_."

"Ok, boss," he sighed in defeat, making his way to the lake behind the thick vegetation.

They swam for a short period, enough to get their skin clean, but their clothes seemed perpetually ruined –not that Harry would want to wear such _invasive_ piece ever again in his life–.

Sitting on the rocks by the lake, the boys stayed silent for what seemed an eternity, just the noise of water crashing down filling the air for them. It was Dougie that initiated the conversation this time, and Harry couldn't say id didn't surprise him.

"You gonna leave, right?" There. At least he didn't have to think of an excuse to bring the subject up; The blond already knew what was coming for them.

"Yeah," he nodded, eyes not quite meeting Dougie's.

"That's okay, I knew we would have to part ways someday," his smile tried to cover what his voice gave away, though it didn't go unregistered by Harry, who pulled him into a tight hug.

As hard as it was to get a reading of timing in that place, Harry could only imagine that he stayed for a good hour tangled with Dougie in his arms. Neither wanted to say anything, dreading the unavoidable end, clutching at each other like their lives depended on the other.

"Here's a little something so you can remember me," a coin on a necklace was placed on Harry's palm, the one he got as a present on his first day with the King. "And this is a bonus," lips met in a heated kiss, tongues swirling around and tasting each other's mouths.

"You're a good kisser," the drummer blinked, touching his own lips in disbelief.

"Told I hadn't _kissed_ you back there," Dougie winked, getting back on his feet. "I would advise to make use of the cold water before we go, this short is giving your _problem_ away to anyone around," he said with a final laugh, watching Harry cover himself and curse under his breath.

~#~

"Tomorrow we're getting our lives back," Tom pondered aloud, helping Danny get undressed for bed. "Aren't you excited, Dan?"

"No, or you wouldn't let me sleep here," he winked and laughed.

"Not _that_ kind of excited– God, I swear you and Dougie must be related," the brown-eyed boy sighed, although his dimple told Danny he was fighting the urge to laugh along. "What?"

Danny opened his mouth to say something, but the sound came only a few seconds later, like he had been considering if he should or not say what's in his mind. "I'll miss us sleeping together, you're a nice cuddle."

"Oh," Tom breathed. "I guess we can have sleepovers now and then, as long as there's no crazy jealous girlfriends involved," he shrugged. Danny just grinned and hugged him.

~#~

"_Tom, Danny, wake up!"_ Harry banged on Tom's door very early in the morning. It should be a little past 6AM and none of the boys were willing to get up so soon.

"Dan, what time is that eclipse?" Tom elbowed behind him to get Danny's attention. From the warm breath he could feel in his neck, the brunet was still asleep, an arm strongly laces across Tom's waist. "Danny!"

The response came in the form of warm lips whispering _"10AM or somethin'" _in his ear and a body fully flushed against his back, which made Tom shiver in surprise.

He thought of telling Harry to go back to sleep, but suddenly there were teeth nibbling his earlobe, warm lips against his pale skin, and everything became a haze as Danny started working his free hand to undo the lace of his pyjama bottom.

"Dan, we shouldn't be doing this," his voice came out shaky, and when Danny stopped his advances respecting Tom's wishes, it was time for the blond singer to turn around and hungrily kiss his best mate back, lost in a cloud of lust combined with desire.

"Tom?" A large hand shook him awake, Danny's worried face looking down at his. "Are you okay?"

"Just a bad dream, don't worry!"

"If you say so... Harry's already awake, the prick want us downstairs," Danny said, pulling his top on. "I'm going ahead because I'm starving, go get ready and come have breakfast with me."

Those were Danny's last words, before he disappeared through the door. Tom sank back into their bed and let the thoughts of his vivid dream replay one more time, feeling terribly ashamed and confused about having such a dream about his friend. To make things worse he noticed how it _physically_ affected him and ran to the bathroom to have a cold shower.

~#~

"We're almost there," Harry rubbed his hands together, watching the cat clock look right and left whilst waving its tail.

To anyone witnessing the whole episode from outside, it would look like a sacrifice rite, a body laid on the floor, dream catchers and boxes on the coffee table, and some food scattered around as they had breakfast on the living room.

"This looks like we're sacrificing him to some deity, can't we at least put the leftovers from breakfast away?" Tom asked no one in particular, being shushed by a Harry far too absorbed by the beginning of the phenomenon.

They watched the eclipse being transmitted on the internet –since watching it with a naked eye can cost you your eyesight–, the moon slowly covering the sun and casting shadow over the Earth. The big star was completely covered and they all expect Dougie to wake up or _"some other weird shite"_ like Danny put it, but nothing seemed to happen and Harry started getting impatient.

"Come on, say that we've been freed from the curse!" He shook his own dream catcher, as if trying to get some response. Dougie's was missing the moon it had before, but at this stage none of them though it to be too weird. "Stupid thing!"

"It's not going to take us anywhere being pissed at a piece of metal, you know," Tom reasoned.

"You say that because you don't mind spending being cosy with Dan–"

"Harry!" The singers lunged to catch their friend before he could hit the floor.

The sun was now a black point in the sky, Dougie was still asleep, and now Harry too was unconscious. Danny eyes grew wide and searched for Tom's, but the blond was more intrigued by the object he took from Harry's hand: the sun on his dream catcher was also gone.

"We're fucked, Dan."

~#~

"It should all end today, aunt Tea?"

"Yes, by the end of the day they will be back to normal, if everything goes according to plan," the elderly woman peacefully sipped from her mug tea. "Are they going to figure things out? That's up to them."

"What if they don't?" Lauren asked her aunt with a slight trace of worry in her eyes. She knew very well that all magic serves to a purpose and when it's not met, well, the rebound is unavoidable, although not always implies that something bad will happen.

"Then they will probably be put into another cycle, if the 'trigger' so desire," her wrinkled face turned serious for a moment. "But don't you worry about it too much, my child. This old lady hasn't lost her touch yet," she chuckled, moving the teapot to serve them another cup of tea.

~#~

Dougie didn't know many things in this life, but one thing he was sure of, is that he was in the wrong place. The city he got used to seeing vanished completely, and he was back to the old yellow room with seemingly no end, this time with no Harry –teenager or kid– to be found. He actually had hoped he could say goodbye to the little boy, give him a hug or ruffle his hair, but it seemed now to be impossible do any of that, and he resigned to start walking in search of his friend.

"Hello? Haz? Are you here?" he called left and right, being met with only silence. The place seemed decidedly empty, and that's what Dougie believed in, until he saw a green door standing on the far back of the room.

Said door connected _"nothing to nowhere"_, as the blond put it, staying in place even though not being supported by any hinges or a doorframe. It also have a distinctive fern green colour that made it impossible not to notice it in a space void of anything but yellow, so it wasn't like Dougie could miss it.

"It's not locked?" He reached for the knob. "Not that anything would surprise me after this bloody long week," and swinging it open the bassist was welcomed by two blue-eyed boys he knew oh so well.

"Dougie!"

"Took you long enough! What were you even doing?"

"Haz and... Haz?" Dougie blinked fiercely.

That was it, he finally cracked under pressure and started having hallucinations. How could both Harries be in just one place at the same time? As far as illusions go, he sure didn't think they could _hug_ somebody, as he felt his legs being encircled in short arms and bigger ones coil around his shoulders.

"What– How– Why?"

"We're awaiting some visitors," teenager Harry said, picking his younger self up in his arms. "They should be here soon."

"New friends!" The little boy squealed, throwing his arms up excitedly. Dougie meant to ask his friend –or friends, he didn't know whether to use plural or singular–, when the opposite wall in the room opened, two man with a blond kid walking in.

"Judd? And are those... me?"

"Someone wake me up," Harry breathed, seeing his younger selves greet the Dougies that accompanied him. Somewhere where things actually made any sense, the word 'normality' got erased with flames, because he was sure that it couldn't possibly get any bit more confusing than that.

"Can somebody tell me what the fucking fuck is going on here?"

"If you so let me," a female voice came from above. "Time has come to reveal to you two what this trial is about."

~#~

"They're not waking up," Danny slapped Dougie's face for one more time, just to no avail. The boy was still passed out cold, the only heat being the reddened cheeks from all slapping the brunet did.

"Calm down, Dan," Tom ran a hand through his hair. "If you keep on slapping him like that, he'll need plastic surgery when he wakes up!"

The brown-eyed boy started pacing around the room in front of the laptop they had been watching the eclipse. The phenomenon usually doesn't last longer than five minutes, but this one was already going for whole seven minutes! Having just Harry or Dougie awake to work with was already pretty bad, but having none of them? That was even _worse_.

"Fuck, just give them back to us," Tom saw Danny lost his temper and launch one of the dream catchers against a wall. The object rolled back to his feet, and started glowing eerily.

A fierce green light took over the living room, dying out as quick as it appeared. On the screen, the sun began to emerge from behind the moon's shadow, coupled with low groans from the boys on the floor. Tom dropped to his knees to check on Harry, and Danny did the same to Dougie; at last their friends were back from their suspended state.

"Harry! Harry!" he gripped his band mate's shoulder firmly, a smile blossoming on his face. "How you're feeling?"

"Who?" The muscled brunet scratched his head lazily, vision still blurry as he tried to focus on the voice in front of him. "Who are you?"


	20. Compulsory Empathy

_Disclaimer: I wish I could._

_A/N: I warn you that the chapter got too long and I had to split it (and make it easier for me to finish and proofread it). Hope I won't get killed in my sleep for this! :P Hahaha! Next time it's really goodbye! :'(_

_**xxPUDDxx**__ Not really the last chapter, but hopefully you won't be too mad! The last bit will be up sometime before May 1__st__, that's for sure. If I'm not going to end it with 20 chapters, I have at least to finish within the time limit I gave myself! ;)_

_Trivia: This chapter is named after the first name I thought for this story! :D Sadly, I got sidetracked and completely lost sight of the concept of what I intended to do, and now you have ____this cake of randomness__. BWAhaha!_

Chapter XX

"Harry, it's Tom! Please, say you remember me!" Tom shook his band mate with force, although in the back of his mind he doubted it would be effective in bringing memory back to an amnesic person. _At all._

"Tommo, I'm kidding," Harry giggled, trying to stop his overly worried friend from _breaking_ his neck.

"Wait," the blond stopped abruptly. "Did you just call me–"

A ear-splitting shriek came from the other side of the room, the next second Dougie lunging himself at Harry and grabbing the drummer by his shirt. Danny and Tom quickly restrained the younger boy foaming at the mouth with rage, taking him away from a confused looking Harry that kept checking his hands and body with a panicky expression.

"Harry?" Tom tried again, this time to the blond boy in his and Danny's grasp, successfully getting Dougie's attention. "Shit, no!" he breathed in defeat, bringing his eyes to look at Danny.

~#~

"_I suppose you two are curious about what's happening here, yes?"_

"Yeah, ma'am. Care to explain this voodoo shit and let us go home?" Dougie called out to the female voice that filled the green room, even though he only could see Harries and his selves.

And so a long and detailed explanation began. Dougie's and Harry's other selves were indeed them –fragments of their souls, to be exact– created from their own memories and experiences, or a projection –like in older Dougie's case– of such. It's also the reason why the toll on their bodies had them sleeping for more time than considered normal for an average human: body and soul are a unity bound together; affecting one would sure have an effect on its counterpart.

The six boys stayed silent throughout the explanation, little Harry and little Dougie had long fallen asleep on a big chair, holding hands and drooling their young lives away, a scene that made Harry chuckle.

Other questions were also answered, like the meaning of the rooms' colours and the disappearing figures from the dream catchers, everything tied to how well the boys got along with the 'soul person' and the state of conscience of them (being awake or not). Apparently, the _"twilight shit"_ was also an indicative of the affinity levels with the other Harries and Dougies.

"Let me check if I understood all you said," Dougie cleared his throat. "You're saying that we should reunite with the other two and everything will be back to how it was?"

"That's _exactly _what she said, wasn't you paying attention?" Harry snorted and threw a cushion at his band mate's head. "Are you _that_ dimwitted?"

"Belt up, Judd! I'm not talking to you," the same cushion flew on the opposite direction landing on the brunet's face. "Won't that kill them?" he turned back to where he imagined the voice came from with a frown.

"_Worry not, young lad. Though they might be gone, their experience and memories in this time will also be yours,"_ the lady gave out a small laugh. _"Now, we have to reunite them with you two."_

Instructed by the unknown voice, they did as told, teenager Harry picking his kid self in his arms and older Dougie doing the same. The kids woke up in the process and went to say goodbye to their respective older friends with a hug and a sloppy kiss on the cheek.

"_Ready?"_ The other selves nodded to the disembodied voice, a harsh light enveloping them and soon the kids vanishing afterwards. _"Now for the rest of you lot,"_ she said calmly.

"I guess this time is really goodbye," Dougie's other self closed in on Harry. "Just don't go forgetting about me, okay? I mean, I'm a king and everything!" they both laughed into their hug, a quick peck on the cheek stolen by the blond boy.

"I thought I wouldn't get the chance to see you a last time," Dougie grinned at younger Harry, pulling the boy close to him.

"It won't be the last time, I'll just grow a bit," he pointed to Harry in the other side of the room. "Glad I'll finally get fit. And hopefully I'll steal you heart, too," this Harry dove for a lightning quick kiss, licking Dougie's lips as he pulled away and running back to his original body.

The boys got lined with their selves side by side, and once again their female guide asked them if they were prepared. A new light started growing in intensity enveloping them, but in the last second Dougie left his position to reach out for teenager Harry.

"_Douglas, don't!"_ the voice tried to warn him, becoming more and more distant as the light grew in intensity.

~#~

"If this idiot hadn't done that I reckon we would be back to normal," Harry huffed, slumping on the sofa by Danny's side. He was still fuming and tried to attack Dougie two or three times, but gave up after verifying that his current body wasn't as strong as his original one, being easily handled by Danny or Tom alone.

"And I got excited about normality coming back to our lives," Tom sighed. "But from what you two told us, I gather that this wasn't expected by the woman/voice/spirit that was with you, right?"

"I'm really sorry," Dougie let his head drop with guilt. "I didn't mean to any of this to happen, I– "

""_Don't know what came over me",_" Harry quoted in a high-pitched voice. "Your whole life seems to be based on this phrase," his snide remark made Dougie fall silent.

"It's not the time to fight among ourselves," Tom hit him in the head in reproach. "My best guess is that we go pay that shop another visit. Everybody agrees?"

"I agree!" Danny nodded enthusiastically, elbowing Harry in the ribs.

"Of course you would agree with your _boyfriend_," the drummer rolled his eyes, still throwing a few nasty looks at Dougie.

"We're not– Hang on a second," Tom fished for the phone in his pocket, dreading as he saw the name Jake flash across the screen. Talk about horrible timing. "Hi, Jake. What's the news?"

His conversation with their manager didn't look too promising, as Tom occasionally mouthed a 'shit' back to the boys on the sofa. It seemed like Jake wanted them to do something soon and even being the brilliant mind he was, Tom found himself in a situation that he couldn't simply manoeuvre his way out.

"I'll let them know," the singer sighed. "Okay, take care you, too, mate."

"Why do I feel you don't bear good news?" Harry ran a hand through his now medium lengthened, blond hair.

"We have a gig this afternoon. It's just a few hundred people, but Jake really wants us to go."

"That's brill! How can this be bad?" Danny bounced on his seat like a little kid.

"It _is_ when you have a drummer and a bassist in the wrong bodies, Dan," the brown-eyed boy sighed once more.

~#~

The place wasn't exactly huge, but it was nice enough to accommodate a bit over 150 people, or so Tom estimated with one glance around. Upon arrival, they met a beaming Jake talking to blue-haired girl about technical details of recording and when they would air the presentation about to take place.

"Hey, guys," Jake greeted the band, all the while smiling like his cheeks would fall out. "You remember Lauren, right?" Somebody from the production crew called over and the manager excused himself, before heading in the other direction, leaving the boys alone with their acquaintance.

"Hello, boys," she smiled as bright as the first time they met. "Oh, it seems like we have a new face around," she intently studied Dougie's original body and face, leaving Harry uncomfortable.

"Yeah, Dougie wasn't really with us the last time we met," Tom laughed nervously, trying to change subject. Things would only get more complicated if she started talking to Dougie thinking he was indeed Harry.

"Well, let me take you to your room, we have a few clothes for you to choose from," Lauren sauntered her way through a narrow corridor, asking them to follow her.

The 'few' clothes turned out to be a lot more than any of them had imagined, and Dougie could only take it as the girl being a little bit exaggerated, which he didn't really mind; she seemed friendly and nice enough for them to like her.

"This is _wow_," Danny rummaged through the many pieces on hangers. "Totally ace," he grinned back at his friends.

"I don't see the point of dressing for something that will be aired on the _radio_," Dougie frowned. He too was engrossed on checking the clothes at their disposal, similar to Danny.

"But the people here will be seeing you, _Dougie_," the girl rolled her eyes.

"I'm Dougie, remember?" Harry raised his hand.

"No, you're not! Shut up, Harry," she laughed. Though she was the only one doing so, as the guys fell silent watching her with surprised eyes.

"Wha–"

Somebody called Lauren on her communicator, making her exit hastily, but not before telling them to play with their souls, giving them a smile and two thumbs up. The band looked at each other with confused faces, but started undressing, anyway. After all, explaining to Jake why Harry was playing bass would be something they would have to deal with later.

~#~

"I can get used to this," Danny plopped by Tom's side on the couch, coiling an arm around the boy's neck kissing his dimple. "I never performed to so many people!"

"It's a good feeling, isn't it?" the singer giggled in response. The crowd receptivity had been amazing, and although they played most cover songs, the girls (and boys) seemed to go insane when firsts chords to "5 Colours" filled the room.

"Some of them even threw their numbers at me," Dougie unscrambled pieces of scribbled papers over the table. "I won't be single for long!" he cheered with a fist pumped in the air.

"Like hell I'm letting you go pick birds with my body!"

"Maybe I should just go for the boys instead?" he shot back, only realising what he had said when Harry's face fell, Tom and Danny stopping their chat to watch them in silence. "Judd, I'm so–"

"Arsehole," Harry stormed out the room after punching Dougie in the face, fighting the tears that threatened fall from his eyes.

"Harry's gay?"

"That's not what's important here, Dan," Tom untangled himself from the freckled arm. "Great, Dougie. Now you're _really _turning into a bad Harry."

"But I–" he sighed, defeated, realising that he was going, in fact, to give the same lame excuse of not knowing what had 'gotten over him'. "I'm going after him, okay?"

Dougie then ran out of the room, dodging people as he made his way to the back door that led into the streets, only that in the opposite direction they made to arrive at the gig's location. He wandered for a few minutes, not sure where to find Harry, but his walk paid off when he caught a glimpse of a familiar blond hair from behind a tree.

"Judd, what the hell are you doing?" he jogged his way to Harry, taking a good hold of the boy to halt him from fleeing again.

"Let go of me, Poynter. You're the last person I wanted to see," he tried to wriggle himself free, though his original body was much more stronger than the one he was currently borrowing. "Fuck, I shouldn't have trained that much!"

"Not gonna lie, this body has some advantages," Dougie smirked, and for a moment he could swear he saw Harry smile through his watered, too. "Look, I'm terribly sorry for what I said, I should have known better after that episode with the Mark prick," he apologised sincerely.

"You know about Mark? But I never told–"

"Met him, punched him," he shrugged. "Can't believe you had someone like him for a friend."

"If that makes things easier to understand, me neither," Harry laughed this time. It was a short laugh, but definitely a laugh. "I guess I should be sorry for the punch?" he touched what would otherwise be his face, noticing a bit of a swelling.

"Believe me, you'll be. It's your face, after all," they both laughed, falling silent a couple of seconds after. The discomfort soon took over the atmosphere as they had just properly chatted for the first time since they first met, back at the auditions.

Harry seemed awfully quiet with his gaze lost somewhere distant, and Dougie started to wonder if he had said anything wrong –one more time– , when he heard his own voice speak again. It hadn't really struck him how strange it was to be able to talk to 'himself', when you're not using a mirror to do so.

"Did you really take my kid self to a theme park?"

"If by that you mean you _dragging_ me to one, then yes, I took your kid self to a park," Dougie adjusted himself against the tree. "It was better than having a fucking pigeon _explode_ in your face, I reckon."

"That crazy monkey gave me the creeps!" Harry laughed with more vigour this time. "That was a very macabre trick, indeed!" he shook his head, the two of them guffawing as they continued sharing memories acquired from his kids selves, the sun quietly going down in background, bathing them in reddish light.


	21. Revelations

_Disclaimer: __ I could at least own them for the last chapter, but nope._

_A/N: And this is goodbye, folks. I would like to thank everyone who have been reading the story and supporting me in general; it's been a pleasure writing for you all! :D_

_For those who might be reading my other unfinished stories, I should go back to them in a few months, after I have my well deserved break (I'll still be around, but not really writing anything)._

_**xxPUDDxx**__ Thank you so much. For someone to keep actively supporting a story even without an account... it's just plain amazing! Even more when 90% of the people won't even bother in giving any feedback. You really make a difference in this forsaken fandom! :)_

_That's all, I guess. Thank you boys and girls! Hopefully, I'll see some of you on the next story! :) XX  
_

Chapter XXI

The third time Danny went to the mysterious shop really paid off, as they actually found the shop where it should have been on their second trial. It still looked as odd as it did the first time he had been there, but Tom seemed to be genuinely interested on everything, pointing some things that he would like to buy and even naming a few other, much for his friends' surprise.

"I knew you would be coming soon, boys," an elderly woman came out from behind an old-looking counter, smiling at them fondly. "How can I help you?"

"You can help us getting this shit undone," Harry spat, gesturing between him and Dougie. "I want my body back!"

"Harry! This is not how you ask people for help!" Tom glared back, making Harry flinch; he didn't get to be called 'band mum' for nothing, he definitely had the authority of a parent. "Hi, I'm Thomas. Could you help us?"

"What a charming boy you are, Thomas," the old lady chuckled lightly. "I'm Galatea, and I would gladly help you in any way I can."

Their talk with the middle-aged lady came smoothly, since Tom prohibited Harry of saying a word and Dougie seemed to be in a depressing mood, strangely quiet for his usual chirpy and cheeky personality. As Galatea put it, the dream catchers were embedded with magic to grant a wish, a wish coming from someone who believed in magic _and_ had good intentions in his/her heart.

"That would be Tom," Danny nodded in acknowledgement. "He's the kindest person I ever met."

"Stop it, Dan," the blond could feel his cheeks redden with embarrassment.

"That may be true, Daniel, but in this case the person with good intentions would be you," the lady finished pouring some tea into five mugs, handling them to her guests. "You had the best intentions in your heart when you wished for Tom to be happier about the band, and have Douglas and Harold stop quarrelling."

"And that's what I would call true love," Dougie spoke for the first time since they arrived. "Don't you agree, Galactic lady?"

"Dougie!" the older blond hushed him with a finger, exchanging a shy look with Danny, who just scratched his head visibly embarrassed. "But what about their current state? Any way we can get them back to normal, Galatea?"

"You can see their condition as a 'malfunction' due to external interference, something powerful enough to disturb the natural flow of things," she pondered, holding her wrinkled chin. "I can assure that the solution rests in their own hands. There's nothing more I can do, I'm afraid."

The boys bid the mystical lady goodbye after receiving a whistle from her –_"just in case they're not __back to normal by next week"– _, Harry clearly the most indignant about the whole situation, although he couldn't just punch an old lady for turning his life up-side down. Not much he could do about it, but at least he didn't black out when the sun finally disappeared from the sky, and for that he was incredibly grateful.

~#~

"No way I'm leaving you alone with my body," Harry barricaded the door to the bathroom, blocking Dougie from getting in. "Who knows what you're going to do with me!"

"Look, it may be _your_ body, but the tiredness _I'm_ feeling is on _me_, okay?" Dougie huffed removing the smaller blond from his way with some ease. "You can even watch me for all I care, it's not like you don't what's underneath these clothes."

With a last shrug, Dougie pushed past Harry and into the bathroom, getting ready for some well-deserved shower. The brunet –now blond due to unforeseen circumstances– started heading back his room, when he heard a _"somebody's a fully grown boy"_ followed by a long whistle, which made him break into the bathroom and go wash his own body _himself_.

~#~

"Was tha' Jake?"

"Yeah," Tom sighed. Deep inside, some part of him started to dread Jake's calls, as he always had to make up some excuse to keep them from (more) trouble. Maybe he should just let those things for Danny to handle? He seemed to have a higher success rate. "Where's the enchanted duo?"

"I don't know much, but you can hear a lot of screaming coming from the bathroom," the curly-haired boy shrugged, taking a bite off his apple and offering it to Tom, who happily accepted.

"As long as they don't kill each other..."

"Or keep _whatever_ they're doing to a low," Danny winked knowingly, taking his apple back from Tom.

"You know that even _if_ Harry's gay, that doesn't mean he's going for Dougie, right?"

"They could be a nice couple."

"I'm a bit afraid of what you consider a 'nice couple'," the blond shook his head in disbelief.

~#~

"You realise that we're now basically the same as Tommo and D-boy, right?"

"Shut up and go back to sleep," Harry clubbed Dougie with his pillow, then proceeded to bury his face in it.

Night came and they still hadn't switched back, reason why they were bunking together in Dougie's room, Harry sleeping on a futon on the floor. The band house was almost completely silent, proof the guitarists also had gone to bed, probably to enjoy their first night sleeping in proper, separated beds.

"Judd?"

"Sleep, Poynter," Harry buried his head even further, rolling to the side. He tried to ignore his own voice calling him a couple of times, but then he could feel something poking him on the side and felt _extremely_ ticklish. "What you want?" he tried not to laugh, turning to see 'himself' staring at him, beautiful blue eyes in the moonlit room.

"Do you hate me because I look like that Mark dick?"

"I don't _like_ you because you're a peasant and an annoying brat. Period," he was already pulling his blanket over his head, when a hand stopped him, the same blue eyes boring into his.

"Look, I've never done anything wrong to you and all you've done was treat me like crap ever since we met. Can't we at least be _polite_ to each other, now that our band seem to be going somewhere?"

It would be hard to explain the sensation for Harry, but for a instant he could see Dougie back to his body –blond hair and all– staring back at him and telling him that he didn't care about who he liked, and that needn't to put so many defensive shield around himself when meeting new people. Images of the bassist punching his former childhood friend flashed in his brain for a fraction of time, and he had to blink to regain his focus on Dougie.

"OK, _maybe_ I projected a bit of him on you. What you want now? To be best mates? To braid each other's hair?" he rolled his eyes when Dougie just grinned in response. "Are you serious?"

"If you still have little Haz alive inside of you, I can't see why not. That kid's awesome," Dougie beamed. "You can start calling me Dougie, like 'you' used to."

"Whatever, Poyn– Dougie," he could _feel_ Harry struggling to get the words out. "Happy, now?"

"That's a good start," he smirked one last time, his head disappearing above the mattress. "Oh, and just so you know, that's _my_ body you're in. It's a known fact that I'm ticklish, meaning I can wake you up _whenever_ I want. Goodnight, Harry."

~#~

Weekend had gone by with not many strange things happening to the boys. Tom and Danny found it strange for their friends pass even a single day without wanting to kill each other, but they certainly weren't complaining about the fact; those were the first peaceful days they ever had in their house.

Like Tom had noticed, with each passing day the boys seemed to be more comfortable with each other, their arguments getting less and less frequent, and they spending more time together than with him or Danny. Sure, it could all be seen mainly as Harry and his trust issues –not that Tom would trust Dougie with his body, either–, but sleeping together in the same room inevitably form a bond between people: him and Danny knew it better than anyone.

The remaining days were not much different, and after Danny caught Dougie viciously tickling Harry whilst they played Halo, they agreed it was safe to consider a blossoming friendship between the other half of their band. Danny still had hopes saying they would end up married, but Tom only dismissed it as his freckled mate being as delusional as Dougie, seeing romance where there's none.

Meanwhile, unbeknown to the singers, both Dougie and Harry started to have occasional flashes of memories from his other selves, eventually recovering all of them and arriving at another point of awkwardness. Harry started distancing himself from Dougie again, going as far as letting the boy wash and sleep by himself, not minding what he could do to his borrowed body.

Noticing the strange behaviour –and double checking with Tom if he had the same impression–, the smaller blond finally went to confront his newest mate.

"You can't avoid me forever," Dougie closed the door behind, effectively trapping him and Harry inside the drummer's room. "We'll have to deal with this shit, sooner or later!"

"Why can't this be later, Dougie? This "friendship" is much too young for something like this!" he air quoted the word for some more emphasis.

"I spent God-knows how much time having your 'you' flirting with me, and now that I know you were hanging out naked with my other self, getting a stiffy and everything, and you just want me to forget it? Hell, no!"

"It was a younger me and an older you, things were... different," Harry trailed off, sitting on his bed. "Can't this wait till we switch back?"

"Are you even listening to yourself? It's been a week and we're still stuck," Dougie strutted his way towards the bed. "I'm the one that should be scared of this fond feeling I don't even know if it's really mine," he added in a softer voice, seemingly too stressed out.

He carefully grabbed Harry's hand and put it on his chest, telling him how much of a wreck his nerves were, all the time maintaining eye contact. They stayed silent for some time gazing at each other with a mix apprehension and confusion, trying to figure out what do to or say.

"I didn't want to admit it, but the reason why I reached out for Haz that time was probably that I simply couldn't bear to lose him, I needed to know where we could go with that new feeling," he started stroking Harry's face with his other hand. "If he's really alive in you, I don't think I can let the opportunity go to waste."

"Dougie, don't–"

Their lips met in a chaste kiss. There wasn't lust or desire in it, just a tender kiss loaded with a giant mass of feelings from both boys. A yellow and a blue light swirling around the room, finally swallowing the boys in a big green flash that ran through the whole house, alarming their friends downstairs.

"Guys–" Tom swung the door open, his eyes immediately falling on the boys kissing.

"I told you I was right," Danny grinned from behind him, licking a _hashi _in his hand clean. For some time neither Dougie or Harry moved, collapsing as soon as Tom approached them, much to their concern.

~#~

"They're fine, just a bit exhausted from the soul exchange. These things have a huge toll on your body," Lauren checked their temperature.

The girl appeared after Tom blew the whistle he received from Galatea, explaining to them that the objective of the dream catchers had finally been fulfilled, as well as her role in all that. It would have surprised Tom in other moment, but after all they witnessed, a girl popping from inside a bit of smoke was pretty conventional.

"Thanks, Lauren," Tom smiled. "I hope they wake up soon, though."

"Any minute now," she checked on her watch, smiling as the boys moaned and started opening their eyes. "See?"

The reunion was tearful like they hadn't seen each other in forever, the four males group hugging each other with much force as possible. Dougie and Harry kissed once again, but the muscled brunet stopped the other boy, telling him they could wait until he turned 18 near the end of the year, surprising the other two about his 'little' lie about his age.

"Now we have moon, stars, sun and the sky all united, like it's supposed to be," the blue-haired girl made her presence known again. "I could say I'm sorry about all that you had to go through all this, but this ordeal only made you a tighter unit. Plus, I'm not really sorry," she said bluntly, winking at them.

"You never stop being painfully honest, do you?"

"Not really, no," she answered Harry's question without missing a beat, making them all laugh. "I better be going. I see you guys when you show up for another interview, yeah?" she disappeared inside a bit of blue smoke after blowing a whistle similar to Tom's.

~#~

Several months later, after the dream catcher incident and Dougie's 18th birthday, he and Harry decided to start a proper relationship, since they had had months of secret dating. Things would have progressed faster if it depended only on Dougie –_"I'm a teenager full of hormones and you're ridiculously hot. Do you see the problem here?"_–, but Harry told him they didn't have to rush into anything more intimate.

They then told their band mates –though Tom and Danny pretty much already knew–, manager and family, getting mainly a positive response from their beloved ones, to which they were grateful. Sadly, Harry's dad didn't show the same acceptance, saying how it was the _"same thing with the Ackers' kid"_ and despising Dougie on the spot, but none of that could change Harry's convictions; he finally had found love.

The band was doing great and they already had two number one singles released, their career catapulted after those two times at Lauren's radio show and they ended up having a friend on her. Their memories about the time magical artefacts invaded their lives were starting to fade, being the dream catchers the only reminder left, hung on each of the boy's door. Harry's and Dougie's changed into a sun and a moon meeting each, whereas Danny's and Tom's remained exactly the same.

"I thought they should know by now that _all _magic has a purpose," Lauren sighed from the backstage, watching the guys entertain the crowd with their poppy melodies and catchy lyrics, Danny kissing Tom's cheek after sharing a microphone. "I can only hope the next time it won't be something so problematic," she walked away, hoping for an equally good denouement in the near future. One where love could always shine brighter.

~Fin~


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